Age checks, algorithm regulations proposed to shield Illinois kids
online
[April 29, 2026]
(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.”
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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.”
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