Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MITCHELLE DRULIS
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Senator ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator PAUL A. SARLO
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Sampson, Karabinchak, Assemblywoman Lopez, Senators Gopal and Amato
SYNOPSIS
Requires social media companies to establish toll-free telephone number for NJ account holders to report fraudulent account actions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee on February 13, 2025, with amendments.
An Act requiring social media companies to establish a toll-free telephone number and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in 1[P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] this act1 :
“New Jersey account holder” means a New Jersey resident who has or who creates a social media account on a social media platform.
“Social media account” means a profile created by a person on a social media platform, which contains personal information, including name, phone number, email, or other identifying information. “Account” also includes a profile created by a person that only contains pictures or videos that the person owns and shares.
“Social media company” means a person, business, or other legal entity and its agents, assignees, or representatives that provides or operates a social media platform with at least five million account holders worldwide.
“Social media platform” or “platform” means a public or semipublic 1[internet-based] Internet-based1 service or application that has users in this State, which service or application: (1) allows users to construct a public or semipublic social media account for the purposes of using the platform, populate a list of other users with whom the user shares a social connection through the platform, and post content viewable by other users of the platform; and (2) is designed to connect users within the platform to facilitate social interactions, except that a service or application that provides email or direct messaging services shall not be considered to meet this criterion solely based on the existence of that functionality. “Social media platform” shall not include an Internet-based service or application for which interactions between users are solely related to the provision of direct messages, commercial and financial transactions, peer-to-peer payments, consumer engagement around products, product reviews, sellers, services, events, or places, or any combination thereof 1, or an online service, application, or website that consists primarily of news, sports, entertainment, or other information or content that is not user generated but is preselected by the provider and for which any chat, comments, or interactive functionality is incidental to, directly related to, or dependent on the provision of the content1 .
2. a. A social media company shall make available to New Jersey account holders a 24-hour toll-free telephone number by which an account holder may contact a live customer service representative of the social media company to report fraudulent activity on a New Jersey account holder’s social media account, including, but not limited to, unauthorized access.
b. A social media company shall publish the toll-free telephone number made available pursuant to subsection a. of this section, and an explanation of the purpose of the toll-free telephone number, on any email notifications of account security sent to a New Jersey account holder and in a prominent location on the homepage or help page of the social media platform.
3. It shall be an unlawful practice and a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.) for a social media company to fail to comply with any provision of section 2 of 1[P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] this act1 . Such violation shall be subject to all remedies and penalties available pursuant to P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
4. This act shall take effect immediately.