LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

SENATE, No. 4153

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: JANUARY 12, 2026

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Prohibits social media platforms from promoting certain practices or features of eating disorders to child users.

Type of Impact:

Potential annual State and local expenditure and revenue increases.

Agencies Affected:

The Judiciary, municipal courts.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

 Annual 

 

Potential State Expenditure Increase

Indeterminate

 

Potential State Revenue Increase

Indeterminate

 

Potential Local Expenditure Increase

Indeterminate

 

Potential Local Revenue Increase

Indeterminate

 

 

·         The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that this bill may result in an indeterminate increase in annual State and local expenditures from the Judiciary and municipal courts having to potentially adjudicate additional civil cases.  The OLS lacks the informational basis to determine how many violations will occur in a given year to quantify the workload increase.

·         The OLS notes that the bill may result in an indeterminate annual increase in State and local revenues from civil penalties resulting from civil actions permitted under the bill.  

 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      This bill prohibits social media platforms from using a design, algorithm, practice, affordance, or feature that the platform knows, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should have known, could cause child users to develop an eating disorder, including the promotion of diet products.

      A social media platform would not be found to violate the provisions of this bill if it has certain controls in place or has less than $100 million in annual revenue.

      Under the bill, a social media platform would not be liable for content that: (1) is generated, uploaded, or shared on the social media platform by a user of the platform, unless the content is paid for by the social media platform; (2) is created solely by a third party and passively displayed by the social media platform; (3) the social media platform was not, in whole or in part, responsible for creating or developing; or (4) involves child users that would otherwise be protected by federal law, the United States Constitution, or the State Constitution.

      A social media platform that violates the provisions of the bill would be liable for a civil penalty, not to exceed $250,000 per violation. The Superior Court and municipal court would have jurisdiction over the proceedings.

 

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

        None received.

 

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

 

      The OLS finds that this bill may result in an indeterminate increase in annual State and local expenditures from the Judiciary and municipal courts having to potentially adjudicate additional civil cases stemming from companies that violate the provisions of the bill.  The OLS lacks the informational basis to determine how many violations will occur in a given year to quantify the expenditure increase.  The OLS notes that the bill may result in an indeterminate annual increase in State or local revenues from civil penalties resulting from civil actions permitted under the bill, depending on which court has jurisdiction over a particular proceeding.

 

 

Section:

Judiciary

Analyst:

Anuja Pande Joshi

Senior Fiscal Analyst

Approved:

Thomas Koenig

Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

 

 

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

 

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).