Bill Amendment: IL HB5511 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: DIGITAL AGE ASSURANCE

Status: 2026-06-26 - Sent to the Governor [HB5511 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB5511-House_Amendment_001.html

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Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz

Filed: 4/10/2026

 

 

 

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5511
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5511 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Children's Social Media Safety Act.
Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Account holder" means an individual who is at least 18
years of age or a parent or legal guardian of a user who is
under 18 years of age in this State. "Account holder" does not
include a parent or legal guardian of an emancipated minor or a
parent or legal guardian who is not associated with a user's
device.
"Age bracket data" means non-personally identifiable data
derived from a user's birth date or age for the purpose of
sharing with covered developers that indicates the user's age
range, including, but not limited to, the following:

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(1) whether a user is under 13 years of age;
(2) whether the user is at least 13 years of age and
under 16 years of age;
(3) whether the user is at least 16 years of age and
under 18 years of age; or
(4) whether the user is at least 18 years of age.
"Age bracket data" includes a range of ages but does not
indicate the exact age of the user.
"Application" means a software application that may be run
or directed by a user on an Internet-enabled device.
"Application programming interface" means a system that
allows 2 or more software systems to communicate and exchange
information, features, and functionality.
"Application store" means a publicly available website,
software application, online service, or platform that
distributes and facilitates the download of applications from
third-party developers to users of an Internet-enabled device.
"Covered developer" means a person who owns or controls a
website, online service, online application, or mobile
application, or portion thereof, that is accessed by a user in
this State.
"Covered manufacturer" means a manufacturer of an
Internet-enabled device, an operating system provider, or an
application store.
"Covered minor" means a user of an Internet-enabled device
who an account holder has indicated to be under the age of 18.

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"Family account platform" means a platform that:
(1) offers subaccounts or profiles within that
platform;
(2) requires a paid subscription or account creation
with payment method verification as the platform's primary
business model;
(3) does not permit account creation by individuals
under 18 years old; and
(4) verifies that the primary account holder is an
adult using commercially available methods that are
reasonably designed to ensure accuracy.
"Internet-enabled device" means a smartphone, tablet, or
personal laptop or desktop computer that provides cellular or
wireless connectivity, is capable of connecting to the
Internet, runs an operating system, and is capable of
downloading and running applications.
"Operating system provider" means a commercial or
non-profit entity that controls the Internet-enabled device's
operating system, including the design, programming, or supply
of operating systems for the Internet-enabled devices.
"Operating system" means the system software that manages
the hardware of an Internet-enabled device and allows programs
and applications to run on such device.
"Parent" means parent or legal guardian.
"Signal" means age bracket data that pertains to the
primary user of an Internet-enabled device sent by a real-time

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secure application programming interface or similar method to
a website, online service, online application, or mobile
application.
Section 10. Digital age assurance.
(a) 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, where the
user or the account holder has agreed to share the user's
age bracket data, that contains the user's age bracket
data; and
(3) send only the minimum amount of information
necessary to comply with this Act and not share the
digital signal information with a third party for a
purpose not required by this Act, except where legally
required.
For a device on which account setup was completed before

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January 1, 2028, a covered manufacturer shall, before July 1,
2028, provide an accessible interface that allows an account
holder to indicate the birth date, age, or both, of the primary
user of that device for the purpose of providing a signal
regarding the primary user's age bracket to covered
developers.
(b) By July 1, 2028, a covered developer shall request a
signal with respect to a particular user from a covered
manufacturer that has an account setup feature with respect to
the use of an Internet-enabled device when the user downloads
or launches a developer's website, online service, online
application, or mobile application for the first time. A
covered developer that receives a signal in accordance with
this Section shall be deemed to have actual knowledge of the
age range of the user to whom that signal pertains only with
respect to that specific device.
(c) A covered developer shall treat a signal received in
accordance with this Section as the primary indicator of a
user's age range for purposes of determining the user's age.
If a covered developer has internal clear and convincing
information that a user's age is different than the age
indicated by a signal received in accordance with this
Section, the covered developer may use the clear and
convincing information as the primary indicator of the user's
age. Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), and (c), a covered
developer of a family account platform may:

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(1) use the age range of the primary account holder as
the age category for purposes of applying age-related
safety defaults and access to features with the platform;
and
(2) permit the primary account holder to attest to the
age categories of associated subaccounts.
A covered developer of a family account application
remains subject to all other requirements of this Section.
(d) A covered developer that receives a signal in
accordance with this Section shall use that signal to comply
with this Act and may use the signal to provide age-based
settings and features but shall not:
(1) request more information from a covered
manufacturer than the minimum amount of information
necessary to comply with this Section absent user
agreement; or
(2) share the signal with a third party for a purpose
not required by this Section.
(e) All digital signals transmitted pursuant to this
Section shall be encrypted to ensure data integrity and
security.
(f) A person who violates this Section shall be subject to
an injunction and liable for a civil penalty of not more than
$2,500 for each affected child for each negligent violation or
not more than $7,500 for each affected child for each
intentional violation, which shall be assessed and recovered

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only in a civil action brought in the name of the people of
Illinois by the Attorney General.
(g) A covered manufacturer that makes a good faith effort
to comply with this Section, taking into consideration
available technology and any reasonable technical limitations
or outages, shall not be liable for an erroneous signal
indicating a user's age range or any conduct by a developer
that receives a signal indicating a user's age range.
(h) A covered manufacturer shall comply with this Act in a
nondiscriminatory manner, including, but not limited to, by
complying with the following:
(1) A covered manufacturer shall impose at least the
same restrictions and obligations on its own websites,
applications, and online services as it does on
third-party websites, applications, and online services.
(2) A covered manufacturer shall not use data
collected from a third party in the course of compliance
with this Act to compete against that third party, give
the covered manufacturer's services preference relative to
those of a third party, or to otherwise use this data or
consent mechanism in an anticompetitive manner.
(i) This Section does not impose liability on a covered
manufacturer or covered developer that arises from the use of
a device or application by a person who is not the user to whom
a signal pertains.
(j) A covered developer is not liable under this Act if the

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covered developer relied on age signal information provided to
the covered developer by a covered manufacturer.
Section 15. Protections for covered minors.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Addictive feed" means a website, online service, online
application, or mobile application, or a portion thereof, as a
significant part of the services offered, in which multiple
pieces of media generated or shared by users of a website,
online service, online application, or mobile application,
either concurrently or sequentially, are recommended,
selected, or prioritized for display to a user based, in whole
or in part, on information associated with the user or the
user's device, unless any of the following conditions are met,
alone or in combination with one another:
(1) the recommendation, prioritization, or selection
is based on information that is not persistently
associated with the user's device, and does not concern
the user's previous interactions with media generated or
shared by other users;
(2) the recommendation, prioritization, or selection
is based on data controlled by user-selected privacy or
accessibility settings or technical information concerning
the user's device;
(3) the user expressly and unambiguously requested the
specific media, media by the author, creator, or poster of

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media the user has subscribed to, or media shared by users
to a page or group the user has subscribed to, provided
that the media is not recommended, selected, or
prioritized for display based, in whole or in part, on
other information that is not permissible under this
definition;
(4) the user expressly and unambiguously requested
that specific media by a specific author, creator, or
poster of media the user has subscribed to, or media
shared by users to a page or group the user has subscribed
to as described by paragraph (3), be blocked, prioritized,
or deprioritized for display, provided that the media is
not recommended, selected, or prioritized based, in whole
or in part, on other information associated with the user
or the user's device that is not permissible under this
definition;
(5) the media is direct and private communication
between users;
(6) the media is recommended, selected, or prioritized
only in response to a specific search inquiry by the user;
(7) the media that is recommended, selected, or
prioritized for display is exclusively next in a
preexisting sequence from the same author, creator,
poster, or source; or
(8) the recommendation, prioritization, or selection
is necessary to comply with the provisions of this Act.

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"Addictive social media platform" means a covered platform
that offers users or provides users with an addictive feed as a
significant part of the service provided by that website,
online service, online application, or mobile application.
"Content" means user-to-user text, an image upload, or a
video upload. "Content" does not include game design and
editorial content, immersive gameplay environments, publicly
viewable usernames, publicly viewable avatars, and their
components.
"Covered operator" means any person, business, or other
legal entity that owns, maintains, or controls a covered
platform or addictive social media platform.
"Covered platform" means a public or semi-public website,
online service, online application, or mobile application
that:
(1) is used by a covered minor in this State;
(2) allows users to construct a public or semi-public
profile for the purposes of using such website, service,
or application; and
(3) has the primary purpose of allowing users to
create or post content that is viewable by other users,
including, but not limited to, on message boards, in chat
rooms, or through a landing page or main feed that
presents the user with content generated by other users.
"Gifted currency" means a currency transfer between users
involving fiat currency or digital currency purchased with

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fiat currency and used within a covered platform whether or
not it can be converted to money.
"Precise geolocation information" means information
derived from technology, including, but not limited to, global
positioning system level latitude and longitude coordinates or
other mechanisms, that directly identifies the specific
location of a natural person with precision and accuracy
within a radius of 1,750 feet. "Geographic location" does not
include the content of communications.
(b) A covered operator shall not offer a website, online
service, online application, or mobile application in this
State if it is not in compliance with subsection (b) through
(d) of Section 10.
(c) For all users that the covered operator has actual
knowledge to be a covered minor, the covered operator shall
use the following settings by default for covered minors,
which shall ensure that no user who is not already connected to
a covered minor may:
(1) view the precise geolocation information of the
minor if a covered platform provides a mechanism by which
users share their location on the platform; or
(2) receive or send gifted currency to the minor.
(d) 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 described in subsection
(e). A parent of a covered minor may override the default

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privacy settings described in subsection (e) for a covered
minor under the age of 16. A covered operator may not design
the covered platform in such a way that would encourage an
override of these default privacy settings.
(e) For all users determined by a covered operator to be a
covered minor, the covered operator shall provide a mechanism
that enables a parent to set a monthly limit on all gifted
currency related to the covered minor's account. The covered
operator shall establish a mechanism by which a parent of a
covered minor may easily view a history of all gifted currency
related to the covered minor's account at any time.
(f) It shall be unlawful for an addictive social media
platform to provide an addictive feed to a covered user
unless:
(1) the addictive social media platform has actual
knowledge that the covered user is not a covered minor; or
(2) the addictive social media platform has obtained
verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed
to a covered minor.
(g) It shall be unlawful for an addictive social media
platform to, between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. send
notifications concerning an addictive feed to a covered user
unless:
(1) the addictive social media platform has actual
knowledge that the covered user is not a covered minor; or
(2) the addictive social media platform has obtained

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verifiable parental consent to send notifications during
the time restricted under this subsection.
(h) All information collected from a minor for the purpose
of obtaining the verifiable parental consent required under
this Section shall not be used for any purpose other than
obtaining verifiable parental consent and shall be deleted
within a reasonable period after an attempt to obtain
verifiable parental consent, except where it is necessary for
compliance with any applicable provisions of State or federal
law.
(i) An addictive social media platform shall not withhold,
degrade, lower the quality, or increase the price of any
product, service, or feature, other than as necessary for
compliance with the provisions of this Act to a covered user
solely because the addictive social media platform is not
permitted to provide an addictive feed to the covered user
under this Act.
(j) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit
a covered operator from instituting a privacy setting for
covered minors or other users that is more protective than
that required by this Section.
(k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as
requiring a covered operator to give a parent who grants
verifiable parental consent any additional or special access
to or control over the data or accounts of the parent's child.
(l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as

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preventing access to information regarding sex, sexuality,
gender, and reproductive health that is not already prohibited
by existing law.
(m) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as
preventing any actions taken in good faith to restrict access
to or availability of media that the covered platform
considers obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively
violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not
the material is constitutionally protected.
(n) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a
covered operator the ability to prevent, detect, protect
against or respond to security incidents, identify theft,
fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities or any
illegal activity targeted at or involving the developer or its
services, preserve the integrity or security of systems or
investigate, report or prosecute those responsible for any
such action.
Section 20. Enforcement. A violation of this Act
constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and
Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and
authority granted to the Attorney General by the Consumer
Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be available
to the Attorney General for the enforcement of this Act.
Section 25. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business

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Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2MMMM as follows:
(815 ILCS 505/2MMMM new)
Sec. 2MMMM. Violations of the Children's Social Media
Safety Act. Any person who violates the Children's Social
Media Safety Act commits an unlawful practice within the
meaning of this Act.
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2027.".