New Jersey will establish a state social media research center at Rutgers University to study how social media use affects young people. The state Office of the Secretary of Higher Education is providing $500,000, and the center will study addictive features and risks and issue policy recommendations.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Higher Education Secretary Margo Charlie announced on the 19th that Rutgers University has been selected to operate the state's social media research center. The center will independently study the effects of social media on children and teens, its addictive features and emerging risks. The move follows three children's online safety bills the governor signed earlier this year.
The state Office of the Secretary of Higher Education issued a call for grant proposals together with the Department of Health and chose Rutgers after a review. The center will receive a $500,000 grant from the state's fiscal year 2027 budget. It is an interdisciplinary center involving multiple campuses and graduate programs, including Rutgers Health, and will operate along three tracks: assessing impact, mitigating addiction and harmful use, and promoting prevention and healthy use.
Research topics include whether putting warning labels on social media platforms is effective in reducing compulsive use. Based on its findings, the center will present recommendations on addictive usage behaviors to policymakers, families, teachers and communities. The announcement did not say when the center will begin operating or when reports are due.
Jessica Hamilton, a professor in Rutgers' Department of Psychology, will lead the center. New Jersey Health Commissioner Leonard Washington said health policy must be grounded in the best evidence, and both the New Jersey School Boards Association and the New Jersey PTA issued statements welcoming the center. The state expects to receive at least $525 million under the $17.1 billion multistate settlement involving Meta announced last August.