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New Jersey becomes latest US state to adopt an Age-Appropriate Design Code
New Jersey has adopted an Age-Appropriate Design Code, strengthening protections for children online and adding to the growing momentum for safety by design across the US.
New Jersey has become the latest US State to adopt an Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC). Signing a Kids Code package into law on 11 August, Governor Mikie Sherrill echoed 5Rights’ language saying:
“Technology companies have designed platforms that hijack our kid’s attention spans, constantly rolling out new, addictive features that have serious negative consequences for our children’s long-term health and well-being. With these new laws, we are putting real protections in place for children online, better supporting parents across our state, and making clear that technology companies have a responsibility to put kids’ safety ahead of profits.”
The “New Jersey Kids Code Act” – sponsored by Assemblymembers Andrea Katz, Marisa Sweeney and Luanne Peterpaul, along with Senators Raj Mukherji and Linda Greenstein – codifies the New Jersey Age-Appropriate Design Code and requires certain online service providers to design their products with the safety and well-being of minors in mind.
The law applies to all online services that allow account creation and “reasonably likely to be accessed” by children.
Among its protections, the law limits the data companies can collect and retain from children, establishes safeguards around interactions between minors and adult users, requires platforms to set their default privacy settings for children to the highest level of privacy, and restricts certain platform features designed to keep young users constantly engaged, including all dark patterns. It also gives children and parents greater control over online experiences, including certain algorithmic recommendations and interactions such as direct messaging, location sharing or interaction metrics such as comments, reactions or reshares. It furthermore requires easy to use and effective mechanisms to report harmful experiences.
The law will be enforced both by the Attorney General, and by a private right of action, allowing for injunctive relief as well as financial sanctions.
Sponsor Senator Raj Mukherji said:
“Age-appropriate design coding requirements start from a simple proposition: if a company knows children are using its platform, it should take reasonable steps to make that platform safer for children. It’s essential that online platforms limit the use of manipulative design practices or dark patterns and adapt their services in a way that protects children and their privacy, not harms them or keeps them continuously scrolling.”
The New Jersey Kids Code builds on age-appropriate design codes passed to date across 6 States since California first adopted its AADC closely modelled on the UK AADC. The laws are spreading thanks to the work of the Kids Code Coalition, of which 5Rights is a founding member.
Leanda Barrington-Leach, 5Rights Executive Director, said:
“US legislators are not waiting for more children to get harmed so as to continue to add to the mounting number of court cases facing tech companies for deliberately manipulative and addictive design. The last five years have seen a wave of new laws requiring safety by design and default for kids, and this momentum is only increasing. We warmly welcome the New Jersey Kids Code Act and encourage States which have yet to put protections for children in place to follow this example.”
The New Jersey Kids Code will come into force a year in September 2027.
