Creates the Children's Social Media Safety Act. Provides that, no later than January 1, 2028, an operating system provider shall: (1) provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder to indicate the birth date, age, or both; (2) provide an operator who has requested a signal with respect to a particular user a signal that identifies the user's age by category; and (3) send only the minimum amount of information necessary to comply with the provision. Provides that an operator shall not offer a platform in the State without conducting age verification as required under the Act to determine whether a user is a minor. Provides that, for all users that the operator has actual knowledge to be a minor, the operator shall use specified default settings for the minor. Provides that a violation of the Act constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to make a conforming change. Effective January 1, 2027.
House Floor Amendment No. 1: Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Creates the Children's Social Media Safety Act. Provides that, no later than January 1, 2028, a covered manufacturer that has an account setup feature with respect to the use of an Internet-enabled device shall: (1) provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder to indicate the birth date, age, or both, of the primary user of that device for purposes of providing a signal regarding the primary user's age bracket to covered developers; (2) provide a covered developer who has requested a signal with respect to a particular user with the technical ability to call a digital signal by a reasonably consistent application programming interface; and (3) send only the minimum amount of information necessary to comply with the Act and not share the digital signal information with a third party for a purpose not required by the Act, except where legally required. Provides that a covered operator shall not offer a website, online service, online application, or mobile application in the State if it is not in compliance with specified provisions of the Act. Sets forth additional provisions concerning digital age assurance. Provides that a violation of the Act constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to make a conforming change. Effective January 1, 2027.
Senate Committee Amendment No. 1: Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Creates the Children's Online Safety Act. Establishes procedures for Internet-enabled device providers and covered providers to verify the age of users. Sets forth default settings for all users that the covered operator has actual knowledge to be a covered minor or has received a signal indicating that the user is a covered minor. Limits a covered operator from sending notifications between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Prohibits a covered operator of an addictive social media platform to enable the automatic playing of media to a covered minor by default. Allows a covered operator of an addictive social media platform to choose not to provide services to minors under specified conditions. Sets forth provisions concerning privacy protections for age assurance data and limitations of the Act. Provides that a violation of the Act constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to make a conforming change. Effective January 1, 2027.
Senate Floor Amendment No. 2: Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of Senate Amendment No. 1 with the following changes. Provides that, by July 1, 2028, a covered operator shall request from a covered manufacturer an age bracket signal for the primary user of an Internet-enabled device when the user downloads or launches a covered platform. Provides that, if the signal indicates that a user is under 18, then the covered operator shall treat the signal as an authoritative indicator of the user's age bracket and the covered operator shall be deemed to have actual knowledge that a user is a covered minor with respect to that specific device. Limits the use of information collected to determine a user's age bracket to specified purposes. Provides that a parent of a covered minor or a covered minor determined by a covered operator to be over the age of 16 may override the default privacy settings. Provides that a parent of a covered minor may override the default privacy settings for a covered minor under the age of 16. Provides that the Act does not apply to any entity whose primary purpose is news media and that has a majority of its workforce consisting of individuals engaging in news media. Provides for enforcement of the Act by the Attorney General. Defines terms. Removes amendatory changes to the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Effective January 1, 2028.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 815 ILCS 505/2
Engrossed: 815 ILCS 505/2