Age checks, algorithm regulations proposed to shield Illinois kids online

By Sean Reed | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Children’s safety online has been an issue of interest for lawmakers in Springfield this year, with dozens of bills introduced aiming to address issues of social media addiction, age-appropriate content and age verification.

Sens. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, and Erica Harriss, R-Edwardsville, spoke about multiple legislative efforts they’ve pushed this session Tuesday. At the center of their address was the ‘Safe Screens, Healthy Minds’ initiative from Rezin.

“We all know that social media is having a real impact on our kids. From mental health challenges to exposure to harmful content, the evidence continues to grow. This is not a theoretical issue anymore,” Rezin said.

Rezin has put forward a number of bills this session, including Senate Bill 3454, dubbed the ‘Better Social Media Feeds Act,’ which she said would bring clarity to how social media platform algorithms recommend content to users.

Rezin has also put forward proposals aimed at age verification and to protect the data of children online.

Harriss’ Senate Bill 3945, titled the “Adult Content Age Verification Act,” also seeks to impose age verification on websites and social platforms operating in Illinois. She said more than half of all other states in the nation have sought to address the access of inappropriate content by minors online.

“My bill requires very reasonable age verification, whether that’s a government-issued ID or a secure commercially viable method to ensure that users are 18 years of age or older,” Harriss said. “If someone exposed a child to explicit material in person, there would be consequences for that. It’s illegal.”

The duo said they would not hesitate to work across the aisle to pass their initiatives, even if the language ended up in a different bill.

House Bill 5511, pushed by Gov. JB Pritzker, passed the House last week. The bill would effectively do much of what Rezin wants done, though it does not include any sort of provision for age verification.

Instead, the bill would require users to input their age at the time of account creation, with guardrails in place for accounts that have an age under 18 entered.

The bill would also impose fines on social media platforms that violate the new regulations, with a price tag of $2,500 per child affected by a negligent platform.

Rezin reiterated she wants social media algorithms to be less predatory and addictive for minors.

“I do care about passing legislation that’s incredibly important in protecting our minors from these algorithms written currently, especially on the social media platforms,” Rezin said. “When you have minors seeing content that’s negative and harmful at a rate – which oftentimes they can see the same content at 200 times an hour or more – it is changing how your brain and your thought process works.”