HF 4138

2nd Engrossment - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 04/08/2026 09:10 a.m.

A bill for an act
relating to civil law; establishing requirements for social media platforms related
to accounts for minors; establishing enforcement mechanisms for regulations on
child social media accounts; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 325M.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [325M.40] STOP HARMS FROM ADDICTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the meanings given.
new text end

new text begin (b) "Account holder" means a resident of the state who has an account or a profile with
a covered social media platform with a unique identifier during any period in which that
covered social media platform knows or should reasonably know the account holder is
physically located in the state.
new text end

new text begin (c) "Addictive interface features" means:
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new text begin (1) infinite scrolling meaning either continuously loading content, content that loads as
the account holder scrolls down the page without the need to open a separate page, seamless
content, or the use of pages with no visible or apparent end or page breaks;
new text end

new text begin (2) display of a profile-based feed;
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new text begin (3) push notifications, whether audible, visual, or tactile, designed to call the attention
of the account holder to newly posted content, user responses to content posted by the
account holder, or other specific activities or events related to the account holder's account,
but not including notifications for the purposes of alerting the account holder to incoming
calls, text messages, email messages, or similar messages sent by human contact and
delivered by means of any application;
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new text begin (4) autoplay video or video that begins to play without the account holder first clicking
on the video or on a play button for that video;
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new text begin (5) display of personal metrics that indicate the number of times other users have clicked
a button or taken other action to indicate their reaction to content posted by the account
holder or have shared or reposted content posted by the account holder; or
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new text begin (6) display of awards, badges, tiers, or any form of recognition of the account holder
based on hours spent by the account holder on the covered social media platform, numbers
of followers, numbers of postings, frequency or regularity of postings, or any other metric
of usage or performance on the covered social media platform.
new text end

new text begin (d) "Child" means an individual who is age 15 or younger and residing in Minnesota.
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new text begin (e) "Covered social media platform" means a social media platform that earned at least
$1,000,000,000 in advertising revenues worldwide in one or more of the preceding three
years.
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new text begin (f) "Minor" means an individual who is under the age of 18.
new text end

new text begin (g) "Paid commercial advertising" is advertising for which the covered social media
platform receives compensation of any sort in return for displaying the advertising and that
seeks to encourage the account holder to purchase a product or service or otherwise engage
in a commercial transaction or to follow a link to a website that encourages the account
holder to engage in a commercial transaction.
new text end

new text begin (h) "Parent" means any parent under state law or any legal guardian or legal custodian
of a child who is a resident of the state.
new text end

new text begin (i) "Personal information" means information about an account holder collected online
that comprises personal information within the meaning of the Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act, United States Code, title 15, section 6501(8), and the implementing
regulations at Code of Federal Regulations, title 16, section 312.2. Personal information
also includes any record of or derived from online activity or history, search history, or
online communications of an account holder with respect to any application, website, or
covered social media platform; any photograph or biometric information that is used or
could reasonably be used to identify the account holder, including but not limited to
fingerprints, voiceprints, iris or retina imagery scans, facial templates, or gait imagery or
metrics; and any geolocation information associated with an account holder or with a device
of an account holder. Personal information does not include an express search term, request,
or selection submitted by the account holder during the current session on the covered social
media platform; an identifier used solely for the purpose of directing personal
communications to or from the account holder; information that comprises account
holder-selected or parent-selected settings relating to privacy, accessibility, or blocking of
age-inappropriate content; or technical information concerning the account holder's device.
new text end

new text begin (j) "Profile-based feed" means a feed in which the material presented has been selected
or prioritized by the covered social media platform for display to an account holder based
in whole or in part on personal information of that account holder, except that inclusion in
a feed of content created by a third party that is displayed to the account holder because the
account holder has taken an affirmative step to select the third party's content for inclusion
in the feed displayed to the account holder, such as by following, friending, or engaging in
similar actions in relation to the third party and not otherwise selected or prioritized for
display to the account holder based on personal information, shall not render the feed a
profile-based feed. Additionally, exclusion by a covered social media platform of certain
content from the feed of an account holder based on information about or any estimate of
the age of an account holder solely for the purpose of excluding content that (1) is obscene
as to children age 15 or younger, or (2) by policy of the covered social media platform is
not suitable for presentation to children of that age shall not render that feed a profile-based
feed.
new text end

new text begin (k) "Social media platform" means an Internet website or application that is open to the
public, allows a user to create an account, enables an account holder to communicate with
other users for the primary purpose of posting and viewing information, comments, messages,
images, or videos, and utilizes addictive interface features, provides profile-based feeds, or
utilizes personal information to display targeted paid commercial advertising. Social media
platform does not include:
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new text begin (1) a broadband Internet access service as defined by the Federal Communications
Commission;
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new text begin (2) an online service, website, or application where the exclusive function is the support
of communications, including email, video conference capabilities, or direct messaging
consisting of text, photographs, pictures, images, or videos only between the sender and
recipients specifically identified by the sender, without displaying or posting publicly or to
other users not specifically identified as the recipients by the sender;
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new text begin (3) an online service, application, or website with content consisting primarily of
information or content that is not user generated; or
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new text begin (4) a streaming service, online video game, e-commerce, or other Internet website where
the content is not user generated but where interactive functions enable chat, comments,
reviews, or other interactive functionality that is incidental to, directly related to, or dependent
upon providing the content.
new text end

new text begin (l) "Targeted paid commercial advertising" means paid commercial advertising that has
been selected or prioritized for display to an account holder based in whole or in part on
account activity or personal information of the account holder by or with the participation
of the covered social media platform, except that advertising selected for display to an
account holder shall not constitute targeted paid commercial advertising if that selection
process considers information about or an estimate of the age of the account holder solely
for the purpose of excluding advertisements that by law or policy of the covered social
media platform are not suitable for presentation to a child of that age.
new text end

new text begin (m) "Verifiable parental consent" has the meaning established in the Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act, United States Code, title 15, section 6501(9), and the implementing
regulations under Code of Federal Regulations, title 16, section 312.5.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Age estimation; requirements. new text end

new text begin (a) When a new account holder has been on
the covered social media platform for 25 hours or more within a six-month period, the
covered social media platform has 14 days to estimate the age of the account holder using
reasonable efforts, taking into consideration available technology and the data in the
possession of the covered social media platform. If the covered social media platform is
able to conclude with a percentage confidence score of 80 percent or greater that the user
is 15 years old or older, or the age estimate range is an average of 15 years of age or older,
the covered social media platform may treat the account holder to be other than a child for
purposes of this section. Otherwise, the covered social media platform must treat the account
holder as a child for purposes of this section.
new text end

new text begin (b) When a new account holder has been on the covered social media platform for 50
hours or more within a six-month period, the covered social media platform has 14 days to
use reasonable efforts to revise the covered social media platform's initial estimate of the
age of the account holder. If the covered social media platform is able to conclude with a
percentage confidence score of 90 percent or more that the account holder is over 15 years
of age, or the age estimate range is an average of 15 years of age or older, the covered social
media platform may treat the account holder to be other than a child for purposes of this
section. Otherwise, the covered social media platform must treat the account holder as a
child for purposes of this section.
new text end

new text begin (c) A covered social media platform shall update its estimate of the age of each account
holder after every six months that the account holder is on the platform, or as often as the
covered social media platform applies any form of data analytics or artificial intelligence
to update the covered social media platform's estimate of any other demographic
characteristics of the account holder for any reason, whichever period is shorter. If the
covered social media platform is able to conclude with a percentage confidence score of 90
percent or more that the account holder is over 15 years of age, or the age estimate range
is an average of 15 years of age or older, the covered social media platform may treat the
account holder to be other than a child for purposes of this section. Otherwise, the covered
social media platform must treat the account holder as a child for purposes of this section.
new text end

new text begin (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create any duty on the part of a covered
social media platform to request, collect, or retain any information from or about any account
holder. The age estimate required by this section shall be derived based on information
collected and retained by the covered social media platform in the ordinary course of
operation of the covered social media platform, and a covered social media platform shall
have no obligation under this section to estimate the age of an account holder who has had
an account with the covered social media platform continuously for at least seven years or
to take any action with respect to the account.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Creation and maintenance of account of a child. new text end

new text begin (a) A covered social media
platform shall require applicants for an account to provide the month and year of their birth
date as part of the account application process, and shall not provide a default birthdate in
any form or query used to obtain that information.
new text end

new text begin (b) A covered social media platform may not create an account for a user identified as
a child pursuant to this section, or change the terms and conditions of an account of a child,
without first obtaining verifiable parental consent. A covered social media platform that is
required to treat an account holder as a child pursuant to subdivision 2 must not maintain
an account of a child without verifiable consent consistent with the process in subdivision
6, paragraph (c). Information collected for the purpose of obtaining verifiable parental
consent shall not be used for any purpose other than obtaining verifiable parental consent
and shall not be sold, transferred, or disclosed, except to the extent necessary to comply
with any other applicable state or federal law or regulation.
new text end

new text begin (c) A covered social media platform shall provide clear, simple, and easy-to-locate
information through a link about the creation or maintenance of an account of a child and
include that information in the terms and services agreement.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Privacy and parental limitations for account of a child. new text end

new text begin (a) An account for
a child shall have all privacy settings set by default at the most private levels.
new text end

new text begin (b) A covered social media platform may not change the privacy settings of an account
of a child without first obtaining verifiable parental consent for the change so long as the
account holder remains a child.
new text end

new text begin (c) In the course of obtaining verifiable parental consent for the establishment or
continuation of an account of a child, a covered social media platform shall prominently
provide and explain an option for the parent to:
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new text begin (1) monitor the amount of time the child spends using the covered social media platform;
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new text begin (2) set daily and weekly time limits on use of the covered social media platform; and
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new text begin (3) set limits on times of day when the covered social media platform can be accessed
by the child.
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new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Prohibition on addictive interface; presentation of paid commercial
advertising. new text end

new text begin (a) A covered social media platform may not present addictive interface features
in the display or feed of any account of a child.
new text end

new text begin (b) A covered social media platform may not present targeted paid commercial advertising
in the display or feed of any account of a child.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Termination of an account of a child. new text end

new text begin (a) A covered social media platform
shall terminate an account of a child within no more than seven days after receipt of a request
for termination from the account holder.
new text end

new text begin (b) A covered social media platform shall terminate the account of a child within 14
days of the receipt of a request for termination from a parent of the account holder. Upon
receipt of the parent's request, the covered social media platform shall verify that the
requesting party is a parent of the account holder by whatever means of verification the
covered social media platform uses for purposes of ascertaining the validity of verifiable
parental consent. A covered social media platform shall provide clear, simple, and
easy-to-locate means for the parent of any child to request termination of any account of a
child.
new text end

new text begin (c) A covered social media platform must terminate an account if it concludes, consistent
with the age estimation requirements in subdivision 2, that an account holder is a child
unless verifiable parental consent is obtained for the account. The covered social media
platform shall provide 30 days from the date of the notice for the account holder to dispute
the age classification and complete an age verification process or to provide verifiable
parental consent. If an account holder disputes his or her classification as a child, a covered
social media platform may rely on any commercially reasonable age verification process
to resolve the dispute. A covered social media platform shall make a reasonable determination
of the dispute within 30 days of the completion of the age verification. In the event a covered
social media platform concludes after considering a dispute and the result of any age
verification that the covered social media platform is obligated to terminate an account, it
shall terminate that account within seven days of making that determination.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Enforcement; remedies. new text end

new text begin (a) Contracts formed in violation of this section are
void and unenforceable. No part of this section may be waived in a contract or terms of
service agreement.
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new text begin (b) A child or parent shall have a private right of action for a violation of this section.
The court may award declaratory or injunctive relief, general and special damages, court
costs and fees, reasonable attorney fees, and any other appropriate relief as a result of any
violation of this section.
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new text begin (c) If a covered social media platform permits a child to open or continue an account on
the platform in the absence of parental consent sufficient for the formation of a binding
contract with a minor under ordinary principles of contract law under the laws of this state,
any purported contract pertaining to the account is void and unenforceable as contrary to
public policy, including but not limited to any arbitration provision, limitation of liability,
or limitation of remedies, without regard to whether the covered social media platform had
actual or constructive knowledge that the account holder was a child.
new text end

new text begin (d) If a covered social media platform's violation was reckless or knowing, a child or
parent who prevails on a claim based on any violation of this section shall be entitled to
recover $10,000 in statutory damages in addition to actual damages established at trial.
new text end

new text begin (e) If a covered social media platform's violation was part of a consistent pattern of
reckless or knowing conduct, punitive damages may be awarded.
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new text begin (f) A covered social media platform shall not be liable for any violation of this section
if it has used reasonable efforts, taking into consideration available technology and the data
in possession of the covered social media platform, to comply with the requirements of this
section.
new text end

new text begin (g) A civil action for damages for a violation of this section must be brought within three
years of the date the plaintiff knew, or reasonably should have known, of the alleged
violation. However, this limitation period for the action shall be tolled until the holder of
an account of a child reaches the age of 18.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Deceptive trade practices. new text end

new text begin Any knowing or reckless violation of this section
shall constitute a deceptive trade practice and a violation of section 325D.44. The attorney
general shall have enforcement authority under section 8.31.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2027, and applies to accounts
created before, on, or after that date.
new text end