103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3440

 

Introduced 2/8/2024, by Sen. Willie Preston

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Parental Consent for Social Media Act. Provides that a social media company shall not permit an Illinois user who is a minor to be an account holder on the social media company's social media platform unless the minor has the express consent of a parent or legal guardian. Provides that a social media company shall verify the age of an account holder using a third-party vendor to perform reasonable age verification before allowing access to the social media company's social media platform. Provides that a social media company shall not permit an Illinois user who is a minor to access the social media platform between the hours of 10 p.m. through 6 a.m. Sets forth provisions concerning liability for social media companies and liability for commercial entities or third-party vendors.


LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3440LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 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
5Parental Consent for Social Media 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    "Commercial entity" means a corporation, limited liability
10company, partnership, limited partnership, sole
11proprietorship, or other legally recognized entity.
12"Commercial entity" includes a third-party vendor.
13    "Illinois user" means a resident of Illinois who accesses
14or attempts to access a social media platform while present in
15Illinois by accessing the social media platform using an
16Illinois Internet protocol address or is otherwise known or
17believed to be in Illinois while using the social media
18platform.
19    "Minor" means an individual under 18 years of age.
20    "Reasonable age verification" means to confirm that a
21person seeking to access a social media platform is at least 18
22years old.
23    "Social media company" means a media company that designs

 

 

SB3440- 2 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1an online forum for an account holder to:
2        (1) create a public profile, establish an account, or
3    register as a user for the primary purpose of interacting
4    socially with other profiles and accounts;
5        (2) upload or create posts or content;
6        (3) view posts or content of other account holders;
7    and
8        (4) interact with other account holders or users,
9    including, without limitation, establishing mutual
10    connections through request and acceptance.
11    "Social media company" does not include:
12        (1) a media company that exclusively offers
13    subscription content to which users follow or subscribe
14    unilaterally and whose platforms' primary purpose is not
15    social interaction, unless that media company allows a
16    user to generate short video clips of dancing, voice
17    overs, or other acts of entertainment in which the primary
18    purpose is not educational or informative;
19        (2) a media company that exclusively offers
20    interacting gaming, virtual gaming, or an online service,
21    that allows the creation and uploading of content for the
22    purpose of interacting gaming, entertainment, or
23    associated entertainment, and the communication related to
24    that content;
25        (3) a company that:
26            (A) offers cloud storage services, enterprise

 

 

SB3440- 3 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1        cybersecurity services, educational devices, or
2        enterprise collaboration tools for K-12 schools; and
3            (B) derives less than 25% of the company's revenue
4        from operating a social media platform, including
5        games and advertising; or
6        (4) a company that provides career development
7    opportunities, including professional networking, job
8    skills, learning certifications, and job posting and
9    application services.
10    "Social media platform" means a public or semipublic
11Internet-based service or application that has users in
12Illinois and on which a substantial function of the service or
13application is to connect users in order to allow users to
14interact socially with each other within the service or
15application. A service or application that provides email or
16direct messaging shall not be considered to a "social media
17platform" on the basis of that function alone.
18    "Social media platform" does not include an online
19service, a website, or an application if the predominant or
20exclusive function is:
21        (1) email;
22        (2) direct messaging consisting of messages, photos,
23    or videos that are sent between devices by electronic
24    means if messages are:
25            (A) shared between the sender and the recipient or
26        recipients;

 

 

SB3440- 4 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1            (B) only visible to the sender and the recipient
2        or recipients; and
3            (C) are not posted publicly;
4        (3) a streaming service that:
5            (A) provides only licensed media in a continuous
6        flow from the service, website, or application to the
7        end user; and
8            (B) does not obtain a license to the media from a
9        user or account holder by agreement of the streaming
10        service's terms of service;
11        (4) providing news, sports, entertainment, or other
12    content that is preselected by the provider and not user
13    generated, including, without limitation, if any chat,
14    comment, or interactive functionality that is provided is
15    incidental to, directly related to, or dependent upon
16    provision of the content;
17        (5) online shopping or e-commerce, if the interaction
18    with other users or account holders is generally limited
19    to:
20            (A) the ability to post and comment on reviews;
21            (B) the ability to display lists or collections of
22        goods for sale or wish lists; and
23            (C) other functions that are focused on online
24        shopping or e-commerce rather than interaction between
25        users or account holders;
26        (6) business-to-business software that is not

 

 

SB3440- 5 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1    accessible to the general public;
2        (7) cloud storage;
3        (8) shared document collaboration;
4        (9) providing access to or interacting with data
5    visualization platforms, libraries, or hubs;
6        (10) permitting comments on a digital news website, if
7    the news content is posted only by the provider of the
8    digital news website;
9        (11) providing or obtaining technical support for a
10    social media company's platform, products, or services;
11        (12) academic or scholarly research; and
12        (13) other research if the majority of the content is
13    posted or created by the provider of the online service,
14    website, or application and the ability to chat, comment,
15    or interact with other users is directly related to the
16    provider's content:
17            (A) that is a classified advertising service that
18        only permits the sale of goods and prohibits the
19        solicitation of personal services; or
20            (B) that is used by and under the direction of an
21        educational entity, including, without limitation:
22                (i) a learning management system;
23                (ii) a student engagement program; and
24                (iii) a subject-specific or skill-specific
25            program.
26    "Social media platform" does not include a social media

 

 

SB3440- 6 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1platform that is controlled by a business entity that has
2generated less than $100,000,000 in annual gross revenue.
3    "User" means a person who has access to view all or some of
4the posts and content on a social media platform but is not an
5account holder.
 
6    Section 10. Social media platforms; reasonable age
7verification methods and parental consent required.
8    (a) A social media company shall not permit an Illinois
9user who is a minor to be an account holder on the social media
10company's social media platform unless the minor has the
11express consent of a parent or legal guardian.
12    (b) A social media company shall verify the age of an
13account holder. If an account holder is a minor, the social
14media company shall confirm that a minor has consent under
15subsection (a) to become a new account holder at the time an
16Illinois user opens the account.
17    (c) A social media company shall use a third-party vendor
18to perform reasonable age verification before allowing access
19to the social media company's social media platform.
20Reasonable age verification methods shall include providing:
21        (1) government-issued identification; or
22        (2) any commercially reasonable age verification
23    method.
 
24    Section 15. Platform accessibility for minors. A social

 

 

SB3440- 7 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1media company shall not permit an Illinois user who is a minor
2to access the social media platform between the hours of 10
3p.m. through 6 a.m.
 
4    Section 20. Liability for social media companies.
5    (a) A social media company that knowingly violates this
6Act is liable if the social media company fails to:
7        (1) perform a reasonable age verification;
8        (2) obtain parental consent for a minor user; or
9        (3) abide by the accessibility for minors provision in
10    Section 15.
11    (b) The Attorney General may conduct an investigation of
12an alleged violation of this Act and initiate an enforcement
13action against a social media company on behalf of the State to
14assess civil penalties.
15    (c) A social media company that is found to have violated
16this Act shall be liable for a civil penalty, to be assessed by
17a court of competent jurisdiction, of not more than $2,500 per
18violation and court costs and reasonable attorney's fees as
19ordered by the court.
20    (d) This Section does not:
21        (1) apply to a news or public interest broadcast,
22    website video, report, or event;
23        (3) apply to cloud service providers; or
24        (2) affect the rights of a news-gathering
25    organization.

 

 

SB3440- 8 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1    (e) An Internet service provider, or any of its affiliates
2or subsidiaries, or search engines, does not violate this Act
3solely by providing access, connection to or from a website,
4or other information or content on the Internet, or a
5facility, system, or network that is not under that Internet
6service provider's control, including transmission,
7downloading, intermediate storage, access software, or other
8service that provides access or connectivity, to the extent
9the Internet service provider is not responsible for the
10creation of the content or the communication on a social media
11platform.
 
12    Section 25. Liability for commercial entities or
13third-party vendors.
14    (a) A commercial entity or third-party vendor shall not
15retain any identifying information of an individual after
16access to the social media platform has been granted.
17    (b) The Attorney General may conduct an investigation of
18an alleged violation of this Act and initiate an enforcement
19action against a commercial entity or third-party vendor on
20behalf of the State to assess civil penalties.
21    (c) A commercial entity or third-party vendor that is
22found to have knowingly retained identifying information of an
23individual after access to the material is granted shall be
24liable for a civil penalty, to be assessed by a court of
25competent jurisdiction, of not more than $2,500 per violation

 

 

SB3440- 9 -LRB103 38112 SPS 68244 b

1and court costs and reasonable attorney's fees as ordered by
2the court.