S 3413 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

"New Jersey Kids Code Act"; adopts New Jersey Age-Appropriate Design Code and requires certain online service providers to implement certain measures concerning minors' use of online service.*

S 3413, the "New Jersey Kids Code Act," requires online services likely accessed by minors to implement age-appropriate design standards. It directly affects major platforms with significant child users (like social media and gaming services), mandating default privacy settings that protect minors and prohibiting the use of their data for harmful purposes. Key provisions include designing products with children’s developmental needs in mind, preventing exposure to harmful content, and ensuring data practices don’t negatively impact minors’ well-being. The law adopts New Jersey’s version of an "Age-Appropriate Design Code" to create safer online experiences for children.

Issues: ✓ Technology

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 9, 2026 Last action Jun 30, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Senate Committee Substitute · 11 edits

MAJOR

The Senate Committee Substitute for S 3413 (New Jersey Kids Code Act) makes substantial revisions to the introduced bill. Most significantly, it restructures the bill from an amendment to the NJ Consumer Privacy Act into a standalone act supplementing Title 56, narrows the definition of 'minor' to ages 13-17 (creating a separate 'child' category for under-13s), lowers the consumer data threshold for covered providers from 50,000 to 25,000, adds new requirements around algorithmic recommendation systems and compulsive use design features, and shortens several compliance timelines.

SCOPE

The bill no longer amends the NJ Consumer Privacy Act (P.L.2023, c.266). It is now a standalone act supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes, removing all cross-referenced definitions and controller duty amendments from the privacy law.

The legislative findings section is substantially shortened and restructured, adding a reference to the September 15, 2025 'Growing Up Online' report that advised the Legislature on specific protections needed.

DEFINITION

'Minor' is redefined from 'less than 18 years of age' to 'at least 13 but less than 18.' A new 'Child' category (under 13) is added, and many protections now apply to both 'covered children' and 'covered minors' rather than just minors.

New definitions added for 'algorithmic recommendation system,' 'compulsive use,' 'covered adult,' 'covered child,' 'reasonably likely to be accessed,' and 'search engine indexing.'

ELIGIBILITY

The threshold for a covered online service provider to be regulated based on data volume drops from 50,000 consumers to 25,000 consumers. A new requirement is added that the online service must be 'reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor.' The 98% adult-user exemption is removed.

REQUIREMENT

'Covered design feature' is redefined around risk of 'compulsive use' rather than simply features designed to increase engagement. Removed from the list: quantification of engagement (visible like/comment counts), barriers to account deletion, and AI chatbot-like intimacy features. Added: intermittent variable reward schedules.

New section requires covered online service providers using algorithmic recommendation systems to provide a user interface enabling covered children, minors, and parents to communicate preferences about media recommendations and to access/review personal data used by the algorithm.

Default privacy settings now explicitly apply to services using algorithmic recommendation systems. A parent exception is added allowing parents to view their child's account and media. Search engine indexing is now always disabled (no opt-in). Interaction counts (likes, comments, reactions) are disabled by default with an option to enable.

The prohibition on targeted advertising is narrowed from a blanket ban to a specific prohibition on targeting ads for narcotic drugs, tobacco products, gambling, or alcohol. A general profiling restriction is removed.

New requirement that the account deletion mechanism require the same number or fewer steps than account creation. New requirement for a prominent real-time signal when geolocation is collected OR when online activity is being monitored by any individual including a parent.

TIMELINE

Age verification data must now be deleted within 15 days (reduced from 60 days). Account deletion/unpublishing must occur within 10 business days (reduced from 15 calendar days).

Senate Committee Substitute → Reprint Of Substitute · 8 edits

MODERATE

The Reprint of Substitute for S 3413 makes several significant changes: it dramatically narrows the definition of 'online service' to essentially social media-type platforms (requiring user-generated content, interactivity, and in-state account holders), adds exemptions for direct messaging services and email services, broadens coverage to include children under 13 in addition to minors, relaxes account deletion timelines, and changes privacy requirements from hiding account existence to hiding account content.

SCOPE

The definition of 'online service' was completely rewritten. The old broad definition covered any internet service that collected or processed personal data. The new narrow definition requires the service to be publicly accessible via the Internet, display user-generated content, have an account holder in New Jersey, and allow interaction with other users' content as a central feature. This effectively limits the bill to social media and similar interactive platforms.

A new exemption was added: a 'covered online service provider' does not include an entity that solely provides a direct messaging service or product (e.g., text-only messaging apps).

Email services were added to the list of excluded services, so they are no longer considered 'online services' under this bill.

ELIGIBILITY

The threshold for when a service is covered was changed from being 'reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor' (ages 13-17) to being 'reasonably likely to be accessed by a child or minor,' extending coverage to children under 13.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'covered design feature' was broadened by removing the qualifier 'primarily designed to.' It now covers any feature that encourages or increases user frequency, time spent, or activity, not just those primarily designed for that purpose.

REQUIREMENT

Privacy settings requirement changed from hiding the 'existence' of a child's or minor's account to adults (unless parent or expressly allowed) to hiding the 'content' of the account. This is a weaker protection - the account can still be visible, but its content must be hidden.

A new subsection clarifies that the obligations of a covered online service provider apply with respect to each individual online service it provides, rather than at the entity level only.

TIMELINE

Account deletion timeline was split: providers now have 10 business days to unpublish an account upon request to unpublish, and 45 calendar days to permanently delete upon request to permanently delete. Previously both actions had to occur within 10 business days.

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 11, 2026

Committee

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

upper

Feb 9, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee

upper

2 primary · 5 co-sponsors