Bill > A2367

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Department of Education to establish a public awareness campaign on the dangers of social media use to minors. The purpose of the campaign is to help the public, and in particular parents and guardians, better respond the needs of minors, and utilize current research findings, including those arising from the United States Surgeon General's May 2023 advisory on social media and youth mental health which finds that up to 95 percent of American minors between ages 13-17 report using a social media platform and more than a third saying they use social media "almost constantly." The Surgeon General's advisory cautions that childhood and adolescence represent critical stages in brain development that can make young people more vulnerable to harms from social media, and its use can disrupt activities that are essential for health, such as sleep and physical activity. 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. Social media use can also perpetuate body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls. Extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content continues to be easily and widely accessible by children and adolescents, and some minors' deaths have been linked to suicide- and self-harm-related content and risk-taking challenges on social media platforms. Online harassment and online bullying occurs and is only partially addressed. Finally, social media platforms can be sites for predatory behaviors and interactions with malicious actors who target children and adolescents. Parents and guardians of young people would benefit from increased awareness about the dangers that social media use pose to minors. Increased awareness would help parents and guardians to utilize current research findings and recommendations to better respond to the needs of minors while encouraging safe social media practices. Under the bill, the Department of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, will develop and implement a public awareness campaign on the dangers of social media use to minors through media outlets which include, but are not limited to: Statewide newspapers, radio, public service announcements, social media, television ads, and any other media outlets deemed appropriate by the Commissioner, no later than 180 days after this bill is enacted. The public awareness campaign builds on the progress of the Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents established by law on July 24, 2023. The Commissioner of Education will report to the Governor, and to the Legislature, no later than 24 months after the effective date of this act, on the activities and accomplishments of the public awareness campaign. Finally, the bill appropriates, from the General Fund to the Department of Education, $500,000 to develop and implement the public awareness campaign.

Committee Categories

Clinton Calabrese (D)*,  Robert Karabinchak (D)*,  Chris Tully (D)*, 

Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee (on 05/08/2025)

Official Document