LEGISLATION

New Jersey Assembly Bill 3757: New Jersey's Social Networking Bill

Most recent news: Media Coalition sent to the New Jersey Assembly a memo in opposition to A.B. 3757, arguing that the bill restricted speech that falls outside of the historical categories of unprotected speech established by the the Supreme Court and that the government cannot exclude speakers from websites for disseminating speech that is permissible for minors, force sites to exclude speech that is legal for minors, nor keep from minors material that is not obscene as to them absent a parent or guardian's permission.

History: New Jersey A.B. 3757 would bar the dissemination of "sexually offensive communication" to a person who is reasonably believed to be under 13 or between 13 and 16 but four years younger than the speaker via a "social networking website." The bill would also require social networking sites to revoke access to speakers who use "sexually offensive communication" or to set up an elaborate process through which to accept complaints about speakers and block their access to specific users.

updated 4/23/09