Gong-Gershowitz, Sen. Preston Pass Landmark Online Child Safety Bill

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A measure—sponsored by state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, and state Sen.Willie Preston, D-Chicago—that would help parents better protect children online passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and awaits Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature.

Gong-Gershowitz’s House Bill 5511 would create the Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act, a landmark bill that would enable parents to more effectively control the types of content their children can consume online, standardizing and improving on many existing private-market parental controls. 

“It’s far more common today than at any point previously that kids will spend a significant chunk of their time online, and that fact has profound implications for our duties as parents,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “The Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act will empower parents to set limits to ensure that their kids’ online activities don’t cause more harm than good.”

The bill would have device-makers supply a settings panel where parents could input their child’s age while setting up a new device. When new software is installed or a new website is visited, a number of settings will trigger by default, unless a parent authorizes otherwise. These settings include:

• Prohibitions against social media companies using addictive algorithms and limiting social media notifications to daytime hours.
• Requiring apps to obtain parental consent for in-app purchases or any transaction between children and third-party users.
• Requiring companies to apply default privacy settings based on a user’s age to protect the user’s location data and profile information.

Parents would be able to tailor these restrictions to meet their child’s needs and better monitor their online activity. 

“This legislation is about creating guardrails that put children before corporate algorithms,” Preston said. “We cannot continue allowing online platforms to prioritize engagement and profit over the mental health, privacy and well-being of young people.”

The bill comes as concerns have risen for years over the negative impacts of social media on children’s mental and physical well-being—a worry backed up by a growing body of psychology, child development and sociology research.

“We know that too many tech companies are deliberately designing their apps and devices to encourage endless scrolling and constant screentime,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “Our kids’ well-being should not be thrown aside in the name of increasing revenue through additional advertisements or the latest microtransaction scheme. Big tech has fallen far short of its moral and ethical responsibilities to protect our kids, and this legislation will empower parents to take back control.”

House Bill 5511 cleared both legislative chambers on June 1 and was sent to the governor.