New Illinois Social Media Law for Kids Takes Effect in 2028

Illinois is taking a major step toward changing how children use social media.

Governor JB Pritzker has signed the Children's Social Media Safety Act, a sweeping new law aimed at protecting kids online and limiting some of the features critics say are designed to keep young people glued to their screens.

New Illinois Social Media Law for Kids Takes Effect in 2028

House Bill 5511 was one of Pritzker's priorities during the spring legislative session and received unanimous support in both the Illinois House and Senate.  The law is set to take effect in 2028.

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One of the biggest changes involved how social media platforms determine a user's age.  Under the law, companies will have to verify a user's age through the device's operating system.  When a device is set up for a child, parents would enter the child's age, which would then trigger certain protections required under the law.

The law also takes aim at the algorithms behind social media feeds.

For users under 18 years old:

• platforms generally won't be allowed to use viewing history or data store on the device to decide what content appears in their feeds.
• minors' feeds will be limited to content they specifically searched for or requested, posts from creators they follow, and media sent directly to them.

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Supporters are saying that they believe the endless, personalized scroll is part of what makes social media so addictive for young people.

The law also requires stronger default privacy protections for minors.  That includes shielding a child's precise location and limiting digital currency transactions.  Social media companies will also be prohibited from sending notifications to minors between 10pm and 7am.

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Not every one is celebrating the news.  Companies can now face fines up to $2,500 per child for unintentional violations and up to $7,500 per child for intentional violations.

So while kids won't see the changes until 2028, this could bring a very different social media experience for anyone under 18 in the state of Illinois.