Illinois has become the latest U.S. state to pull operating systems into the age verification pool. Governor JB Pritzker has signed HB5511, the Children's Online Social Media Safety Act, putting forward a new age verification framework for every device sold or used in the state.
The bill imposes age check on "covered manufacturers," a category that lumps device makers, operating system providers, and app stores together.
Protect the children!
By January 1, 2028, these manufacturers have to build an interface at account setup asking a parent or account holder for the child's birth date. That date is then converted into one of four age brackets: under 13, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, or 18 and up.
The law also stipulates that all transmitted digital signals have to be encrypted.
Applications can then pull that bracket through an API once a user downloads or launches them. Once they get a signal marking a user as a minor, they're legally treated as having "actual knowledge" of that.
Once flagged, apps have to turn on a set of safety settings. Feeds get restricted, profiles get hidden from adult strangers, messages from adults get blocked, precise location gets masked, and notifications go dark between 10 PM and 7 AM.
Parents can override these defaults for their kids, and minors over 16 can do it themselves too.
Apps have until July 1, 2028 to start requesting these signals, and violations can cost up to $50,000 each, enforced by the state Attorney General. Device manufacturers and apps acting in good faith aren't liable if a signal turns out wrong.
Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz led the bill through the House, with Reps. Margaret Croke and Janet Yang Rohr as chief co-sponsors, and more than a dozen others signed on. Sen. Willie Preston carried it in the Senate alongside Sens. Robert F. Martwick, Mary Edly-Allen, and Adriane Johnson.
It passed 82-27 in the House and 57-0 in the Senate before clearing final concurrence unanimously.
Open source exemption where?
Illinois isn't the first state to try this model. Colorado's SB26-051 and California's AB-1043 both rely on the same OS-level age signal setup; apps request it, and the device answers.
Both of these started off without any concessions for open source platforms (e.g., Linux).
Colorado's SB26-051 originally applied to every operating system and developer without exception. System76 founder Carl Richell worked directly with state lawmakers to change that.
The bill picked up language exempting operating systems and developers distributing software under terms that let anyone copy, redistribute, and modify it freely. It also added a clause blocking platforms from locking down modified versions.
California's AB-1043 had the same gap. Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, the same lawmaker who wrote AB-1043, introduced AB-1856 to fix it. After several rounds of edits, the amended bill redefines "operating system provider" to exclude anyone distributing software under those same open license terms.
Illinois has none of this. HB5511's definitions for "covered manufacturer" and "application store" stay just as broad as these bills were before their amendments.
My two cents
Well, folks, we sure are getting close to someone's wet dream of having a dystopian hellscape where people don't have control over their computers, food, or water.
On the one side, you have these so-called "bipartisan" bills passing through without much hindrance under the guise of protecting children, and then you have the island-class cretins who still haven't been prosecuted.
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