Social media platforms requirements establishment related to accounts for minors
What changed between versions
The age threshold for classifying a user as a child was raised from 15 to 16 years old, and the confidence score required to treat a user as an adult was raised from 80% to 90%.
Age estimation requirements were tightened; platforms must now estimate age after every six months of usage (previously after 100 hours or data analytics updates) and must estimate age for new accounts after 50 hours of use.
Platforms are now prohibited from presenting addictive interface features or targeted paid commercial advertising in the feeds of any child account.
The definition of a 'covered social media platform' was changed to require that the platform utilizes addictive interface features, provides profile-based feeds, or uses personal information for targeted ads.
The definition of 'personal information' was updated to include biometric data like voiceprints and facial templates, while removing the reference to 'social media platform' in the general definition and replacing it with 'covered social media platform' in specific contexts.
New exclusions were added to the definition of 'social media platform' to exclude broadband internet access services, private messaging apps, and sites with primarily non-user-generated content.
The definition of 'social media platform' was expanded to include streaming services, online video games, and e-commerce sites where interactive functions are incidental to the content.
Contract provisions were strengthened to declare contracts void and unenforceable if a child opens an account without parental consent, regardless of whether the platform knew the user was a child.
Statutory damages for violations were increased to the greater of actual damages or $10,000, and punitive damages are now available for consistent patterns of reckless or knowing conduct.
The effective date of the bill was delayed from November 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027.
