Bill > HB5511

This bill, titled the Children's Social Media Safety Act, mandates that by January 1, 2028, operating system providers must implement an age verification process during account setup, requiring users to provide their birth date or age. These providers will then send a signal, or "age bracket data," to applications, categorizing users into age groups (under 13, 13-15, 16-17, or 18 and over) and sharing only the minimum necessary information. Social media platforms, referred to as "operators," must conduct age verification to identify minors and, for those under 18, apply specific default privacy settings, such as restricting location sharing and financial transactions. For users under 13, parental approval will be required for new connections and financial transactions, with parents able to view connection lists and transaction histories. The bill also prohibits "addictive feeds," which are content recommendation systems that prioritize content based on user data, unless parental consent is obtained for minors or the user is verified as an adult. Furthermore, platforms cannot send notifications about addictive feeds to minors between midnight and 6 a.m. without verifiable parental consent. Violations of this Act will be considered unlawful practices under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, granting the Attorney General enforcement powers. The Act takes effect on January 1, 2027.

https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=5511&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104