The Internet Less
New Jersey teen accounts would default to higher privacy
The New Jersey bill would also restrict direct messages from adults, block targeted ads for tobacco, alcohol, gambling and narcotics, and require an easy way to delete an account.
For families, the practical change is that minors would not have to dig through settings to get basic protection. The bill sets a stricter baseline for how platforms handle young users’ data and visibility.
- Platforms would have to default minors to the strictest privacy settings.
- Adult messages, location sharing and search indexing would face tighter limits.
- The bill also targets dark patterns that nudge young users to share more.
- Lawmakers frame it as an online privacy measure for children and teens.
- New Jersey lawmakers are trying to make the internet less intrusive for teenagers
New Jersey lawmakers are trying to make the internet less intrusive for teenagers. The Kids Code Act, also called the New Jersey Age-Appropriate Design Code, would require certain online services to build stronger privacy protections for minors they know are using the platform.
At the center of the proposal is a simple rule: if a user is a child or teenager, the service would have to start with the most private settings, rather than the most open ones. That means less visibility to other adults, tighter controls on direct messages, and fewer ways for a minor’s location or activity to be shared by default.
The settings that would shift
The bill would also turn off search engine indexing for those accounts, hide interaction counts by default and restrict the use of dark patterns, the interface tricks that can push people toward choices they did not really want to make. For families, that could mean fewer public signals attached to a young person’s account and fewer built-in prompts to keep sharing.
The measure is written against a broader anxiety about life online: that the design of apps and social platforms can amplify exposure, compulsive use and data collection before a child understands what is being given away. Its findings point to rising adolescent distress and heavy internet use as part of the case for a stricter baseline.