103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3510
 
Introduced 2/9/2024, by Sen. Laura Fine
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act
 Creates the Minor User of Social Media Protection Act. Provides that a social media company that has Illinois account holders shall develop a written policy, made available to the public, that complies with the procedures set forth in the Act and establish a reporting function that permits account holders to report that an Illinois account holder is a minor. Provides that a social media company that receives a report that an Illinois account holder is a minor shall verify the age of that account holder and, if a reasonable age verification reveals that the reported account holder is a minor, the social media company shall take down the reported account holder's account. Sets forth provisions concerning liability for social media companies and liability for commercial entities or third-party vendors.


LRB103 37990 SPS 68122 b


 
 
A BILL FOR
 
SB3510LRB103 37990 SPS 68122 b


1 AN ACT concerning business.

2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
3represented in the General Assembly:

4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Minor 
5User of Social Media Protection Act.

6 Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7 "Account holder" means an individual who creates an 
8account or a profile to use a social media platform.
9 "Account holder age report" means a report to a social 
10media company from another account holder that a specified 
11Illinois account holder is a minor.
12 "Commercial entity" means a corporation, limited liability 
13company, partnership, limited partnership, sole 
14proprietorship, or other legally recognized entity. 
15"Commercial entity" includes a third-party vendor.
16 "Credible" means the data collected for targeted 
17advertising purposes indicates, to a reasonable person, that 
18the account holder is, more likely than not, a minor under the 
19age of 13 from the user's digital footprint and data from the 
20user's conduct on the social media platform to curate 
21advertisements based on the user's demographics.
22 "Digital footprint" means the body of data or information 
23that a particular person creates through the person's actions 
 
 
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1online or exists as a result of the person's online activity.
2 "Infinite scroll" means a design feature with the hallmark 
3of displaying additional content at the bottom of the user's 
4screen, such that the user is typically unable to look at a 
5single social media post.
6 "Minor" means an individual under the age of 13.
7 "Preference amplification" means using algorithms and 
8recommender systems to increase the user's engagement by 
9recommending content based on how the user interacts with the 
10social media platform.
11 "Push notifications" means the delivery of information 
12from a social media platform to a computing device without a 
13specific request from the client.
14 "Reasonable age verification" means to confirm that a 
15person seeking to access a social media platform is at least 13 
16years old.
17 "Reported account holder" means an Illinois account holder 
18who is the subject of an account holder age report.
19 "Reported presumed minor account holder" means an Illinois 
20account holder who is the subject account holder age report 
21that is determined to be credible based on the data the social 
22media company collects for targeted advertising purposes.
23 "Social media company" means a media company that designs 
24an online forum for an account holder to: 
25  (1) create a public profile, establish an account, or 
26 register as a user for the primary purpose of interacting 
 
 
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1 socially with other profiles and accounts; 
2  (2) upload or create posts or content; 
3  (3) view posts or content of other account holders; 
4 and 
5  (4) interact with other account holders or users, 
6 including, without limitation, establishing mutual 
7 connections through request and acceptance. 
8 "Social media company" does not include: 
9  (1) a media company that exclusively offers 
10 subscription content to which users follow or subscribe 
11 unilaterally and whose platforms' primary purpose is not 
12 social interaction, unless that media company allows a 
13 user to generate short video clips of dancing, voice 
14 overs, or other acts of entertainment in which the primary 
15 purpose is not educational or informative; 
16  (2) a media company that exclusively offers 
17 interacting gaming, virtual gaming, or an online service, 
18 that allows the creation and uploading of content for the 
19 purpose of interacting gaming, entertainment, or 
20 associated entertainment, and the communication related to 
21 that content; 
22  (3) a company that: 
23   (A) offers cloud storage services, enterprise 
24 cybersecurity services, educational devices, or 
25 enterprise collaboration tools for K-12 schools; and 
26   (B) derives less than 25% of the company's revenue 
 
 
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1 from operating a social media platform, including 
2 games and advertising; or 
3  (4) a company that provides career development 
4 opportunities, including professional networking, job 
5 skills, learning certifications, and job posting and 
6 application services.
7 "Social media platform" means a public or semi-public 
8Internet-based service or application that has users in 
9Illinois and on which a substantial function of the service or 
10application is to connect users in order to allow users to 
11interact socially with each other within the service or 
12application. A service or application that provides email or 
13direct messaging shall not be considered to a "social media 
14platform" on the basis of that function alone.
15 "Social media platform" does not include an online 
16service, a website, or an application if the predominant or 
17exclusive function is: 
18  (1) email; 
19  (2) direct messaging consisting of messages, photos, 
20 or videos that are sent between devices by electronic 
21 means if messages are: 
22   (A) shared between the sender and the recipient or 
23 recipients; 
24   (B) only visible to the sender and the recipient 
25 or recipients; and 
26   (C) are not posted publicly; 
 
 
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1  (3) a streaming service that: 
2   (A) provides only licensed media in a continuous 
3 flow from the service, website, or application to the 
4 end user; and 
5   (B) does not obtain a license to the media from a 
6 user or account holder by agreement of the streaming 
7 service's terms of service; 
8  (4) providing news, sports, entertainment, or other 
9 content that is preselected by the provider and not user 
10 generated, including, without limitation, if any chat, 
11 comment, or interactive functionality that is provided is 
12 incidental to, directly related to, or dependent upon 
13 provision of the content; 
14  (5) online shopping or e-commerce, if the interaction 
15 with other users or account holders is generally limited 
16 to: 
17   (A) the ability to post and comment on reviews; 
18   (B) the ability to display lists or collections of 
19 goods for sale or wish lists; and 
20   (C) other functions that are focused on online 
21 shopping or e-commerce rather than interaction between 
22 users or account holders; 
23  (6) business-to-business software that is not 
24 accessible to the general public; 
25  (7) cloud storage; 
26  (8) shared document collaboration; 
 
 
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1  (9) providing access to or interacting with data 
2 visualization platforms, libraries, or hubs; 
3  (10) permitting comments on a digital news website, if 
4 the news content is posted only by the provider of the 
5 digital news website; 
6  (11) providing or obtaining technical support for a 
7 social media company's platform, products, or services; 
8  (12) academic or scholarly research; and
9  (13) other research if the majority of the content is 
10 posted or created by the provider of the online service, 
11 website, or application and the ability to chat, comment, 
12 or interact with other users is directly related to the 
13 provider's content:
14   (A) that is a classified advertising service that 
15 only permits the sale of goods and prohibits the 
16 solicitation of personal services; or 
17   (B) that is used by and under the direction of an 
18 educational entity, including, without limitation: 
19    (i) a learning management system; 
20    (ii) a student engagement program; and 
21    (iii) a subject-specific or skill-specific 
22 program. 
23 "Social media platform" does not include a social media 
24platform that is controlled by a business entity that has 
25generated less than $100,000,000 in annual gross revenue.
26 "Targeted advertising purposes" means behavior-based 
 
 
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1advertising that takes into account data from a user's digital 
2footprint and data from the user's conduct on the social media 
3platform to curate advertisements based on a user's 
4demographics, including, but not limited to, who the user is, 
5what the user likes, and what the user is likely to purchase.
6 "User" means a person who has access to view all or some of 
7the posts and content on a social media platform but is not an 
8account holder.

9 Section 10. Requirements for social media companies. 
10 (a) A social media company that has Illinois account 
11holders shall develop a written policy, made available to the 
12public, that complies with the procedures set forth in this 
13Act and establish a reporting function that permits account 
14holders to report that an Illinois account holder is a minor.
15 (b) A social media company that receives an account holder 
16age report that an Illinois account holder is a minor shall 
17determine whether the account holder age report is credible. 
18An account holder age report is credible when a social media 
19company has reason to believe the reported account holder is a 
20minor under the age of 13 based on the data the social media 
21company collects for targeted advertising purposes.
22 (c) If the social media company has reason to believe the 
23reported account holder is under the age of 13 based on the 
24data the social media company collects for targeted 
25advertising purposes, the social media company shall verify 
 
 
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1the age of the reported presumed minor account holder in 
2accordance with Section 20.
3 (d) If the social media company does not have reason to 
4believe the reported account holder is under the age of 13 
5based on the data the social media company collects for 
6targeted advertising purposes, the social media company is not 
7required to take any additional action on the account holder 
8age report.

9 Section 15. Age verification of reported presumed minor 
10account holders. 
11 (a) When a reported account holder is considered to be a 
12reported presumed minor account holder as described in 
13subsection (c) of Section 10, the social media company shall 
14verify the age of the reported presumed minor account holder 
15within 30 days after receiving the account holder age report.
16 (b) A social media company shall use a third-party vendor 
17to perform reasonable age verification. Reasonable age 
18verification methods under subsection (b) include providing:
19  (1) government-issued identification; or
20  (2) any commercially reasonable age verification 
21 method.
22  (c) If, within 30 days after receiving the account 
23holder age report, a reasonable age verification reveals that 
24the reported account holder:
25   (1) is a minor, the social media company shall 
 
 
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1 take down the reported account holder's account; or
2   (2) is not a minor, the social media company shall 
3 leave the reported account holder's social media account 
4 active and open and the social media company shall not be 
5 required to take any additional action on the account 
6 holder age report.
7 (d) If, within 30 days after receiving the account holder 
8age report, a reasonable age verification is not conducted by 
9a third party for any reason, the social media company shall 
10restrict the following design features from the reported 
11presumed minor account holder until reasonable age 
12verification is performed:
13  (1) the ability of any other account holder to contact 
14 or direct message with a presumed minor account holder;
15  (2) the ability of any other account holder to engage 
16 with a presumed minor account holder, including, but not 
17 limited to liking, commenting or sharing a presumed minor 
18 account holder's content posted to the social media 
19 platform;
20  (3) infinite scroll;
21  (4) push notifications;
22  (5) the ability for a presumed minor account holder to 
23 see preference amplification on the presumed minor account 
24 holder's social media content;
25  (6) the ability of the presumed minor account holder 
26 to access the social media platform between the hours of 
 
 
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1 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.; and
2  (7) face and body image manipulation filters.

3 Section 20. Liability for social media companies. 
4 (a) A social media company that knowingly violates this 
5Act is liable if the social media company fails to:
6  (1) perform a reasonable age verification for a 
7 reported presumed minor account holder; 
8  (2) restrict the design features from the reported 
9 presumed minor account holder until reasonable age 
10 verification is performed; or
11  (3) take down the account of a reported presumed minor 
12 account holder if age verification reveals the reported 
13 presumed minor account holder is a minor, unless parental 
14 consent is provided.
15 (b) If a social media company performs a reasonable age 
16verification, the social media company shall not retain any 
17identifying information of the individual after access to the 
18social media platform has been granted.
19 (c) The Attorney General may conduct an investigation of 
20an alleged violation of this Act and initiate an enforcement 
21action against a social media company on behalf of the State to 
22assess civil penalties. Prior to asserting a cause of action, 
23the Attorney General shall provide a social media company with 
24a period of time of not less than 30 days to comply with this 
25Act
 
 
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1 (d) A social media company that is found to have violated 
2this Act shall be liable for a civil penalty, to be assessed by 
3a court of competent jurisdiction, of not more than $2,500 per 
4violation and court costs and reasonable attorney's fees as 
5ordered by the court.
6 (e) This Section does not: 
7  (1) apply to a news or public interest broadcast, 
8 website video, report, or event;
9  (3) apply to cloud service providers; or
10  (2) affect the rights of a news-gathering 
11 organization.
12 (f) An Internet service provider, or any of its affiliates 
13or subsidiaries, or search engines, does not violate this Act 
14solely by providing access, connection to or from a website, 
15or other information or content on the Internet, or a 
16facility, system, or network that is not under that Internet 
17service provider's control, including transmission, 
18downloading, intermediate storage, access software, or other 
19service that provides access or connectivity, to the extent 
20the Internet service provider is not responsible for the 
21creation of the content or the communication on a social media 
22platform.

23 Section 25. Liability for commercial entities or 
24third-party vendors. 
25 (a) A commercial entity or third-party vendor shall not 
 
 
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