The New Jersey legislature passed the New Jersey Kids Code Act on June 30, sending one of the most comprehensive state-level online child safety frameworks in the country to the desk of Governor Mikie Sherrill. Assembly Bill 4015 cleared the Assembly 73-5 and the Senate 36-4, establishing an Age-Appropriate Design Code that requires covered online platforms to implement default privacy protections, restrict data collection practices targeting minors, and take measurable steps to prevent compulsive use among children and teenagers. The bill now awaits Governor Sherrill’s signature, and her transition team had previously recommended prioritizing age-appropriate design code legislation as a policy objective.
- The New Jersey Kids Code Act (A4015) passed the Assembly 73-5 and the Senate 36-4 on June 30, 2026
- The bill requires online platforms to apply the highest available privacy settings by default for users known to be minors
- Platforms must provide a real-time signal to minors when geolocation data is being collected or their activity is being monitored
- Online services are prohibited from encouraging or prompting minors to reduce privacy settings
- Violations constitute an unlawful practice under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, with a private right of action for families
- The bill takes effect July 1 of the calendar year following enactment
- New Jersey joins Illinois, California, and several other states advancing child safety legislation as the federal Kids Online Safety Act remains unsigned
The Design-Based Regulatory Framework Behind the Bill
The New Jersey Kids Code Act takes a design-based approach to regulating how online platforms interact with minors, distinguishing it from legislation that focuses primarily on age verification or outright platform restrictions. Sponsored by Assemblywoman Andrea Katz and Senator Raj Mukherji, the bill requires covered online service providers to set default privacy and safety settings at the highest protection level available for users the platform knows to be minors. Platforms are explicitly prohibited from reducing those settings or prompting minors to lower their own protections.
The bill also addresses data collection and behavioral design. Online services must provide a prominent, constant, real-time signal to a minor whenever precise geolocation information is being collected or their online activity is being monitored by any individual, including a parent. That transparency requirement extends to both commercial tracking and parental monitoring tools, ensuring that minors are aware when their digital behavior is being observed regardless of who is doing the observing.
On the behavioral design front, the law requires covered platforms to take all reasonable steps to ensure that their use of a minor’s personal data and the design of platform features do not result in compulsive use. That provision targets the algorithmic engagement loops, infinite scroll mechanics, and notification patterns that child safety advocates have identified as structurally similar to conditioning techniques used in gambling. Julie Scelfo, founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction, described the design features currently deployed by social media companies as “similar to the type of neuro-conditioning that you see in a slot machine.”
Enforcement Mechanisms and Legal Accountability
Violations of the New Jersey Kids Code Act constitute an unlawful practice under the state’s Consumer Fraud Act, opening platforms to enforcement action by the New Jersey Attorney General. The law also includes a private right of action, allowing New Jersey families to hold tech companies accountable for damages in court. That provision gives the New Jersey framework stronger enforcement teeth than some comparable state laws that rely exclusively on attorney general action.
The bill passed as part of a broader legislative package that moved through the New Jersey legislature on June 30. Alongside the Kids Code Act, lawmakers approved the Fair Price Protection Act (A-4085), which targets algorithmic pricing practices, and a data brokers registry bill (A-5328) that Governor Sherrill signed into law the same day. Together, the three bills represent a coordinated push by New Jersey lawmakers to establish guardrails around how technology companies collect, monetize, and deploy personal data, with minors receiving the most prescriptive protections.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center praised the Kids Code Act’s passage, noting that the legislation incorporates several provisions from a model Age-Appropriate Design Code that EPIC released earlier in 2026. EPIC Senior Counsel Megan Iorio described the bill as requiring online companies to put children’s interests ahead of profit-driven data and design practices.
New Jersey’s Place in a Growing State-Level Movement
New Jersey’s Kids Code Act arrives as part of an accelerating wave of state-level child safety legislation moving through legislatures across the country. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the Children’s Social Media Safety Act into law on July 31, 2026, targeting addictive algorithms and requiring device-level age verification. California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, signed in 2022, served as an early model for design-based regulation, though it faced legal challenges that delayed enforcement. Maryland, Minnesota, and New York have all advanced similar frameworks in their 2026 sessions.
The state-level momentum reflects a persistent gap at the federal level. The Kids Online Safety Act has advanced through congressional committees and drawn bipartisan support, but remains unsigned. That legislative stall has created a patchwork of state-by-state regulations that technology companies must navigate, with each new law adding compliance requirements that vary in scope, enforcement mechanisms, and definitions of covered platforms and protected users.
For New Jersey specifically, the Kids Code Act aligns with priorities Governor Sherrill established on her first day in office, when she signed an executive order directing all state agencies dealing with children to prioritize mental health outcomes related to online activity. The Kids Code Act provides the statutory framework to enforce those priorities against the platforms themselves.
Industry Response and the Road to Implementation
Technology industry groups have raised concerns about the compliance burden created by differing state standards, arguing that a federal framework would provide more consistent protections for children while reducing regulatory fragmentation. Similar arguments surfaced during California’s AADC implementation, where industry-backed legal challenges delayed enforcement. New Jersey’s bill has not yet faced a formal legal challenge, but the pattern established in other states suggests that covered platforms may test the law’s constitutionality once enforcement begins.
The Young People’s Alliance, an advocacy organization focused on youth digital rights, endorsed the bill’s design-based approach, noting that it gives minors the ability to control their feeds and turn off algorithmic recommendations rather than restricting access to platforms entirely. That framing positions the New Jersey law as a regulatory middle ground between outright platform bans for minors and the largely self-regulatory status quo that has defined the industry’s approach to child safety for the past decade.
If Governor Sherrill signs the bill, it would take effect on July 1 of the following calendar year. The legislation requires the Department of Law and Public Safety and the Department of Health to support implementation, though the state’s Office of Legislative Services has noted that the fiscal impact of enforcement remains indeterminate. What is not indeterminate is the direction. New Jersey’s legislature has made clear that it expects technology companies to redesign how their products interact with children, and the private right of action ensures that families, not just regulators, have a mechanism to hold platforms accountable when they fall short.
FAQs
What Does the New Jersey Kids Code Act Require?
The New Jersey Kids Code Act (A4015) requires covered online service providers to apply the highest available privacy and safety settings by default for users known to be minors. Platforms must provide a real-time signal when geolocation data is being collected or a minor’s activity is being monitored. The law prohibits platforms from prompting minors to reduce privacy settings and requires reasonable steps to prevent design features from causing compulsive use. Violations constitute unlawful practices under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
Has the New Jersey Kids Code Act Been Signed Into Law?
As of late July 2026, the bill has passed both chambers of the New Jersey legislature (Assembly 73-5, Senate 36-4) and awaits Governor Mikie Sherrill’s signature. Sherrill’s transition team previously recommended prioritizing age-appropriate design code legislation, and she signed a related data brokers bill on June 30, the same day the Kids Code Act passed. If signed, the law would take effect on July 1 of the calendar year following enactment.
How Does New Jersey’s Law Compare to Other State Child Safety Laws?
New Jersey’s Kids Code Act takes a design-based approach, requiring platforms to change how their products function for minors rather than relying solely on age verification or platform bans. Illinois’s Children’s Social Media Safety Act, signed July 31, 2026, focuses more heavily on device-level age verification and restricting specific features like nighttime notifications. California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act served as an early model but faced legal challenges. A key distinction of the New Jersey law is its private right of action, which allows families to sue platforms directly for damages.
