Establishes Social Media Research Center at four-year public institution of higher education, the official text

ASSEMBLY, No. 4014

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  ANDREA KATZ

District 8 (Atlantic and Burlington)

Assemblywoman  CARMEN THERESA MORALES

District 34 (Essex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Peterpaul and Assemblyman Sampson

SYNOPSIS

Establishes Social Media Research Center at four-year
public institution of higher education.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

As introduced.

An Act establishing a Social Media Research Center and
supplementing chapter 62 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

1.    The Legislature finds
and declares that:

a.  The United States Surgeon
General released an advisory on social media and youth mental health in May
2023, which finds that:

(1) social media use by young
people is nearly universal, with up to 95 percent of American minors between
the ages 13 and 17 years old reporting the use of a social media platform;

(2) childhood and adolescence
represent critical stages in brain development that can make young people more
vulnerable to harms from social media;

(3) usage of social media can
become harmful depending on the amount of time children spend on platforms, the
type of content they consume or to which they are otherwise exposed, and the
degree to which it disrupts activities that are essential for health, such as
sleep and physical activity;

(4) recent research shows that
adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double
the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, such as symptoms of
depression and anxiety;

(5) social media may also
perpetuate body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, social
comparison, and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls; and

(6) extreme, inappropriate,
and harmful content continues to be easily and widely accessible to children
and adolescents, and in certain cases, childhood deaths have been linked to
content related to suicide and self-harm and risk-taking challenges on social
media platforms.

b.  Further research is
critical for gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of social media on
children, informing evidence-based approaches for mitigating the harmful
effects of social media, and establishing New Jersey as a leader in social
media policy.

c.  For these reasons, there
is a need to bring together health experts, public interest technology
researchers, parents, and the private sector to share data and expertise and
develop recommendations for promoting safer online experiences.

2.    a.  There is established
a Social Media Research Center, hereinafter referred to as the center, at a
four-year public institution of higher education. The purpose of the center
shall be to carry out collaborative and
interdisciplinary research, analysis, and outreach activities to help New
Jersey navigate the usage of social media, particularly among children and
adolescents.

b.  The Secretary of Higher
Education shall select a four-year public institution of higher education to
host the center.

c.  The center shall conduct
research with a mission to create and support the use of impartial and
actionable science to advance government, public, private, and nongovernmental
sector efforts to understand social media use, mitigate
the negative impacts of social media, and promote healthy and responsible
social media use.

d.  The
center’s research, analysis, and outreach activities shall include, but not be
limited to:

(1) establishing online
courses and training modules concerning safe social media use, which courses
and modules shall be available to public schools in the State;

(2) researching
age-appropriate screen times and content;

(3) making recommendations to
the Legislature, Governor, and key stakeholders that address the mental,
physical, and behavioral health challenges posed by social media use;

(4) studying the impacts of
social media consumption on the residents of the State; and

(5) conducting public
awareness campaigns to promote the responsible use of social media and media
literacy.

e.  As a supplement to its own
research, the center may administer a grant program for research on social
media.  Research funds under the grant program shall be awarded on the basis of
scientific merit as determined by an open, competitive peer review process that
assures objectivity, consistency, and high quality.  The peer review process
shall be modeled on the process used by the National Institutes of Health in
its grant-making process.  All qualified investigators, regardless of
institutional affiliation, shall have equal access and opportunity to compete
for research funds under the grant program.

3.    State departments and
agencies including, but not limited to, the Department of Health, the
Department of Education, and the Department of Children and Families, shall
provide to the center, upon request, the data necessary for the center to
conduct its research.

4.    One year following the
establishment of the Social Media Research Center, and every five years
thereafter, the four-year public institution of higher education hosting the
center shall submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant
to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), regarding the work of the
center.  The report shall include, but not be limited to, information on the
center’s current research projects, the amount and sources of funding utilized,
and the future direction of the center’s research.  If the center administers a
grant program for social media research, the report shall also include
information on the grants made, pending grants, and accomplishments of the
program.

5.    The center and any
recipients of grants awarded by the center shall provide copies of their
research publications to the Governor, to the Legislature pursuant to section 2
of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and to any State departments or agencies
that supplied data used in connection with that research, as soon as
practicable following publication.

6.  a.  The Legislature shall
annually appropriate such amounts as are necessary to fund the research
activities of the Social Media Research Center and the functioning of the
center.

b. The center may solicit and
accept any grants, gifts, donations, or other additional funds from public or
private sources, which may be available for research related to social media.

7.    This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes a Social
Media Research Center at a four-year public institution of higher education for
the purpose of carrying out collaborative and interdisciplinary research,
analysis, and outreach activities to help New Jersey navigate the usage of
social media, particularly among children and adolescents. The Secretary of
Higher Education is required to choose the four-year public institution of
higher education at which the center will be hosted.

The center will conduct
research to understand social media use, mitigate the negative impacts of
social media, and promote healthy and responsible social media use. The
center’s research, analysis, and outreach activities will include: (1)
establishing online courses and training modules concerning safe social media
use, which would be made available to public schools in the State; (2)
researching age-appropriate screen times and content; (3) making
recommendations to the Legislature, Governor, and key stakeholders to address
the mental, physical, and behavioral health challenges posed by social media
use; (4) studying the impacts of social media consumption on the residents of
the State; and (5) conducting public awareness campaigns to promote the responsible
use of social media and media literacy.

The bill authorizes the
center, in addition to its own research, to administer a grant program for
research on social media.  Research funds under the grant program will be
awarded on the basis of scientific merit under a competitive peer review
process, and all qualified investigators will have an equal opportunity to
compete for grant funds.

The bill requires the
four-year public institution of higher education hosting the center to submit a
report on the work of the center to the Governor and the Legislature one year
following the establishment of the center, and every five years thereafter.
The report is required to include information on the center’s current research
projects, funding utilized, and the future direction of its research.  If the
center administers a grant program, the report would also include information
on the grants awarded and the program’s accomplishments.  In addition, the
center and any recipients of grants awarded by the center will provide copies
of their research publications to the Governor, the Legislature, and any State
departments or agencies that supplied data used in connection with the
research.

Under the bill, the Social
Media Research Center would be funded through an annual appropriation by the
Legislature, and by any grants, gifts, donations, or other additional funds
received by the center from public or private sources for research related to social
media.