Stop Harms from Addictive Social Media Act (HB 542) ↗
Signed 2026-04-02; effective 2026-07-01. NetChoice publicly urged a veto and signaled a First Amendment challenge (arguing the Act builds a digital-ID and surveillance mandate), but no filed suit or injunction against HB 542 is verified as of 2026-07-04. Idaho's prior social-media effort (S1417, 2024) died in committee.
Signing date (2026-04-02), Session Law Chapter 268, and the 2026-07-01 effective date are confirmed against the official Idaho Legislature bill page (read via its 2026-06-30 archive.org snapshot; the live site refuses non-US connections, so confirm in the US-based CI link check). The covered-age cutline is a live open question re-checked 2026-07-04: several reputable trackers (Orrick's Online Safety Law Center, Boise State Public Radio, KTVB) describe the covered users as '16 years of age or younger' (i.e. through age 16), and Senate-amendment reporting says the account-gate age was raised from 16 to 17 in the final version, while other coverage (ADF, KIFI) still says under-16. This record keys to under-16 pending an enrolled-text read (legislature.idaho.gov refused all connections on both verification passes). Treat the exact cutline as unresolved. Additionally, the $1B global-advertising-revenue threshold, the under-16 cut-line, the addictive-feature list, and the private right of action come from secondary reporting and NetChoice's veto request, not a primary-text pass. Re-verify against the enrolled bill before promoting to `verified`. Status is `in_force` because the 2026-07-01 effective date has passed with no verified injunction; a First Amendment challenge is anticipated. Penalties (including the reported private right of action) omitted rather than asserted without primary-text confirmation.
Scope
The Act reaches large social-media platforms, with age-verification/estimation duties keyed to Idaho users and an account gate (verifiable parental consent) for Idahoans under 16.
- Covered platforms are reported as those with at least $1 billion in annual global advertising revenue.
The covered-platform definition and the $1 billion global-advertising-revenue threshold come from secondary reporting and NetChoice's veto request, not a primary-text pass. Re-verify against the enrolled bill.
Key dates
- Signed
- 2026-04-02
- Effective
- 2026-07-01
Obligations (2)
Verify or estimate the age of Idaho users and obtain verifiable parental consent before an Idaho resident under 16 may create or maintain an account, applying the most-private settings by default.
Statute’s own ages: Verifiable parental consent is keyed to Idahoans under 16; users aged 16-17 fall outside the consent requirement (hence no 16_17 bracket).
Do not deploy addictive interface features (such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, or engagement metrics/badges) or profile-based paid commercial advertising to covered minors.
Statute’s own ages: Applies to covered children under 16; exact per-feature age scope pending primary-text verification.
Cross-state comparisons
- similarin-hb1408 (Indiana): Both condition an under-16 minor's social-media account on age verification/estimation plus verifiable parental consent and both disable addictive/algorithmic features and profile-based advertising for covered minors.
- similarny-safe-for-kids (New York): Both target engagement-maximizing design for minors (addictive feeds, notifications), but Idaho pairs that with a hard age-verification-plus-parental-consent account gate for under-16 users.
- similarne-lb383 (Nebraska): Both require age verification and parental consent before a minor may hold a social-media account; Nebraska's LB 383 was partially enjoined, and a comparable First-Amendment challenge to Idaho's HB 542 is anticipated but unverified.