Require Parental Consent for Minors on Social Media

S3993 addresses something families across New Jersey have been asking for: a legally enforceable requirement that social media companies obtain a parent's or guardian's consent before a minor can hold an account on their platforms. The American Council supports this bill and urges every member of the Legislature to vote for its passage.

The bill's core prohibition, in Section 2(a), is clear: a social media company shall not permit a New Jersey resident who is a minor to be an account holder on the social media company's social media platform unless the minor has obtained the express consent of a parent or guardian. That consent has a defined method under Section 2(b): the parent or guardian must provide government-issued identification and credit card information to the company, and must consent to a fee of not more than 35 cents charged to that card. This creates a verifiable, real-world link between an adult and the minor's account rather than an easily circumvented checkbox. Critically, Section 2(c) makes clear that this consent mechanism does not override any other State or federal law that independently bars a minor from holding or opening an account; where such a law applies, that prohibition controls notwithstanding anything else in this bill.

These obligations apply only to entities that meet the bill's definition of "social media company": a person that provides or operates a social media platform with at least five million account holders worldwide. The definition of "social media platform" itself carries meaningful scope limits. A platform must allow users to construct a public or semipublic profile, populate a list of social connections, and post content viewable by others, and must be designed to connect users for social interaction. A service is not a social media platform merely because it offers email or direct messaging functionality. Moreover, services whose user interactions are solely related to direct messages, commercial and financial transactions, peer-to-peer payments, or consumer engagement around products, reviews, sellers, services, events, or places are expressly excluded from the definition.

Section 3 establishes age verification requirements for all New Jersey account holders, not only minors. For new accounts, verification occurs at the time the account is opened. For existing account holders who have not yet provided age verification, the company must complete that verification within 14 calendar days of the account holder's attempt to access the account. If an account holder fails to meet the verification requirements within the applicable period, the company must deny access to the account upon expiration of that period and must maintain the denial until all requirements are met.

Section 4 sets two additional obligations that apply specifically to accounts held by New Jersey minor account holders. First, the company must prohibit direct messaging between the minor's account and any adult user who is not linked to that account through "adding" on the platform. "Adding" is defined to mean a mutual-election distinction between two accounts by which their settings enable them to view one another's posts; the term includes friending, following, and similar actions, and may also include any designation that enables direct messaging between accounts that do not otherwise permit such messaging generally. Second, the company must not collect or use any personal information from the minor account holder's posts, content, messages, text, or usage activities, except information necessary to comply with and to verify compliance with State or federal law. The bill specifies that permissible information includes a parent or guardian's name, a birth date, and any information required to be submitted to establish consent under Section 2(b). This data minimization rule is a strong protection: it limits what platforms may harvest from children's online activity to what the law itself requires, and nothing more.

Enforcement is assigned to the Division of Consumer Affairs under Section 5. The Division must receive consumer complaints alleging violations, investigate them, and enforce the bill. Before initiating any enforcement action, the Division must give the potential defendant at least 30 days' written notice identifying and explaining the basis for each alleged violation. If the person cures the violation within those 30 days and provides the Division with a written statement confirming the cure and committing to non-recurrence, the Division may not initiate an enforcement action for that violation. However, this cure bar does not protect a person that fails to cure after notice, or that commits another violation of the same provision after having previously cured a noticed violation of it; in either of those circumstances the Division may proceed.

When the Division does act, the director may impose a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per violation, collected in a summary proceeding under the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999. The director may also initiate a civil action in Superior Court. In a court action brought by the Division, the court may declare that a practice constitutes a violation, issue an injunction, order disgorgement for payment to an identified injured user or account holder, impose civil penalties up to $2,500 per violation, award actual damages to injured users or account holders, and grant any other relief the court deems reasonable and necessary. If the court grants judgment or injunctive relief in a Division-initiated action, it must award the Division reasonable attorney fees, court costs, and investigative fees. The Division retains all penalties, fines, and fees recovered in successful enforcement actions.

Section 6 creates a private right of action. Any individual -- with no standing or injury requirement stated in the text -- may sue a non-compliant social media company in the Superior Court of the county where that individual resides. This means any individual, not only a minor, a parent, or an injured user, may bring an action. A prevailing plaintiff is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The plaintiff is also entitled to the greater of: (a) $2,500 per instance of violation, or (b) actual damages for financial, physical, or emotional harm, if the court determines that the harm is a direct consequence of the violation or violations. The directness finding is a condition only on the actual-damages alternative; the $2,500 statutory damages are available without it.

Section 7 voids, as against public policy, any contractual waiver or limitation of the bill's protections, the right to cooperate with and file a complaint with the Division, or the right to bring a private action. This applies notwithstanding any contract or choice-of-law provision therein.

Section 8 requires the Division to submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature evaluating its ability to reduce unconsented minor platform use and to enforce the bill. At minimum, the report must list alleged violations received during the year, administrative fines and civil penalties assessed, and administrative fines and civil penalties collected.

The American Council believes that parents have both the right and the responsibility to guide their children's digital lives, and that no company should be able to circumvent that by granting account access to a minor without a parent's knowledge. S3993 gives that parental authority legal force, backs it with meaningful penalties, and places enforcement within reach of both state officials and any individual. We urge immediate passage.