Relating to: online services accessed by minors, minors’ personal data, and granting rule-making authority.
SB 978 requires online services likely accessed by minors (like social media or games) to design features that protect young users. It prohibits features causing "compulsive use" (e.g., endless scrolling) and restricts collecting sensitive data like biometrics or genetic information without clear consent. Businesses must set default privacy settings to the most protective level for minors and cannot use algorithmic recommendations to target them in ways that disrupt daily activities. The law also gives state agencies authority to create rules for identifying minors and enforcing these requirements, applying to businesses generating most revenue from online services in the state.
Bill status
failed
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 6, 2026
Last action Mar 23, 2026
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
5
Key actions
0
Committee
0
Feb 6, 2026
Introduced
Introduced by Senators Smith, Hesselbein, Roys, Wall and Spreitzer;
cosponsored by Representatives Joers, Billings, Mayadev, Andraca, Clancy, DeSanto, DeSmidt, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Madison, Miresse, Neubauer, Roe, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Stubbs and Udell
upper
5 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Dianne Hesselbein
DDemocratic
P
Jamie Wall
DDemocratic
P
Jeff Smith
DDemocratic
P
Kelda Roys
DDemocratic
P
Mark Spreitzer
DDemocratic
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