NJ's First-Ever Social Media Research Center Will Open At Rutgers

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Rutgers University will host New Jersey's first dedicated Social Media Research Center, to independently study social media’s addictive features and emerging risks to children, tweens and teens.

The Center will be funded by a $500,000 grant from the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, directed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

“Research has linked social media to depression and anxiety, fatigue and trouble sleeping, poor body image and disordered eating," said Sherrill. “I promised in my campaign to take on Big Tech because it poses one of the greatest generational threats to our kids’ mental health and well-being. Today, we’re delivering on a major pillar of that promise."

Sherrill said she wants to better protect New Jersey children, hold Big Tech accountable and "address the harmful and addictive effects of social media on young people."

Through the Center, Rutgers will produce research, including possible warning labels on social media platforms to discourage compulsive use by kids and teens.

This comes at a time when a growing number of children and adolescents are reporting symptoms of anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

The state of New Jersey will also receive at least $525 million, and could receive over $752 million, under a landmark $17.1 billion multi-state settlement with Meta Platforms, Inc., the owner of Facebook.

Announced here by NJ Attorney General Jennifer Davenport in August, the settlement requires Meta to implement a sweeping set of safety features designed to protect children and teenagers on Instagram and Facebook. The state of New Jersey is allowed to use that settlement money to fund youth mental health programming, crisis intervention services, further investigations to improve online safety, and digital literacy efforts.

New Jersey also recently passed a new law aimed at reigning in Big Tech, called the New Jersey Age-Appropriate Design Code. The new law limits the data companies can collect and retain from children, establishes safeguards around interactions between minors and adult users, requires platforms to set their default privacy settings for children to the highest level of privacy, and restricts certain platform features designed to keep young users constantly engaged.