House Bill 5511, the Children's Social Media Safety Act, was signed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on July 31, 2026. It regulates how social-media platforms rank content for minors, how they establish user age, and when they may send minors notifications. The law takes effect in 2028 (Source: capitolnewsillinois.com).
Its central provision addresses recommendation systems rather than content: platforms may not use a minor's viewing history or on-device data to rank that minor's feed. This places it in the category of state measures aimed at algorithmic personalization as such; see AI and Children.
Status and timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly unanimously |
| July 31, 2026 | Signed by Gov. JB Pritzker |
| 2028 | Effective date |
Key provisions
- Feed ranking. Platforms are barred from using a minor's viewing history or on-device data to rank their feeds.
- Age confirmation. Age must be confirmed through the device operating system rather than by platform-side verification.
- Notification curfew. Notifications to minors are prohibited between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
(Source: capitolnewsillinois.com)
Enforcement and penalties
Enforcement rests with the office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Penalties run up to $2,500 per child for unintentional violations and up to $7,500 per child for intentional ones — a per-child rather than per-violation or per-day measure (Source: capitolnewsillinois.com).
Reactions
The bill passed both chambers unanimously. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Motion Picture Association, TechNet and the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the final version — an alignment of industry trade groups with a civil-liberties organization against the same text (Source: capitolnewsillinois.com). The available source does not state the grounds each organization gave.
Open questions
- The grounds for the ACLU's and the trade associations' opposition are not stated in the available reporting.
- How device-operating-system age confirmation is to be implemented, and what obligations it places on operating-system vendors rather than platforms, is not specified in the available source.
- Whether the feed-ranking restriction reaches AI-generated recommendations specifically, or only the use of the two named data categories, is not established.
Relationships
- related: Illinois SB 315 (frontier safety framework with mandatory third-party audits), Illinois SB 317 — Consumer Artificial Intelligence Notice Act, Illinois SB 3444 — Artificial Intelligence Safety Act — other Illinois AI and platform measures.
- related: Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act, H.R. 7757) — a federal proposal addressing minors and online platforms.
- related: CHAT Act and CHAT Act 2.0 — a federal bill addressing minors and conversational AI, with a comparable age-assurance question.
- related: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — an opponent of the final version.
- related: Media, Journalism & Entertainment — AI Deployment — the sector regulated.