On Thursday, the Illinois House signed off 82-27 on a sweeping new plan to rein in how social media platforms and devices engage with young people. The Pritzker-backed proposal, House Bill 5511, known as the Children's Social Media Safety Act, would require platforms and operating systems to turn on protective defaults for users under 18, curb late night notifications and limit algorithm-driven recommendations. Supporters cast the push as a response to mounting worries about kids' mental health, while critics warn it could be tough to enforce and may raise fresh privacy concerns.
How the House voted
According to Capitol News Illinois, lawmakers approved the bill on a bipartisan 82-27 vote and sent it to the Senate, with nine Republicans crossing over to join Democrats in support. Bill sponsor Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, told colleagues the measure is meant to address "the weaponization of your data" that keeps children "glued and addicted to the screen," and she emphasized that the bill does not give parents blanket access to monitor children’s accounts.
What the bill would require
The bill text requires operating-system providers to collect age information when an account is set up and to provide platforms with an age signal so services can apply age-appropriate defaults, as detailed in the Illinois General Assembly filing. It defines an "addictive feed" and bars operators from persistently tying device-linked behavioral data to a minor in order to generate a recommendation feed. Under the bill, a minor's default settings would block location sharing, stop in-app digital-currency transactions and prevent platforms from sending notifications between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Those rules and definitions are spelled out in the statute and would largely phase in by 2028.
Backers say it's about kids' mental health
Gov. J.B. Pritzker promoted the measure in his State of the State address and said parents repeatedly tell him they are worried about social media's effect on children, according to NBC Chicago. Supporters say the bill goes after design features, not speech, and the sponsor has stressed that it is aimed at tools that "keep kids online," not at policing content, as reported by Capitol News Illinois.
Enforcement and legal questions
The bill makes violations an unlawful practice under Illinois' Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, which would allow state enforcement and civil penalties if companies do not comply, according to the text posted by the Illinois General Assembly. That enforcement hook would give state regulators and private plaintiffs tools to seek penalties if platforms ignore the new rules.
What's next
The bill now heads to the Illinois Senate for more debate and possible amendments. If it is enacted largely as written, many of the changes would roll out by 2028, giving platforms and device makers time to adjust. Advocates say the outcome will determine whether Illinois joins a growing list of states setting new rules for how social apps treat minors, according to tracking by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
