social media platforms’ treatment of minors and providing a penalty

Wisconsin Legislature: SB758: Bill Text

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SB758: Bill Text

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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-3702/2
MDE:emw&cdc
2025 SENATE BILL 758
December 12, 2025 - Introduced by Senators
Roys
,
Wall
,
Pfaff
,
L. Johnson
,
Keyeski
,
Wanggaard
,
Wirch
and
Dassler-Alfheim
, cosponsored by Representatives
McGuire
,
Fitzgerald
,
McCarville
,
Miresse
,
Palmeri
,
Prado
,
Sinicki
,
Snodgrass
,
Stroud
,
Stubbs
,
Tenorio
and
Udell
. Referred to Committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism.
SB758,1,2
1
An Act

to create
134.07 of the statutes;
relating to:
social media platforms’
2
treatment of minors and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill creates certain prohibitions related to social media platforms’ treatment of minors. “Social media platform” is defined in the bill to mean a public or semipublic online website, service, or application that 1) is used by a minor in this state; 2) allows users to construct a public or semipublic profile for the purposes of using the website, service, or application; 3) allows users to create or post content that is viewable by other users, including on message boards, in chat rooms, or through a landing page or main feed that presents the user with content generated by other users; and 4) allows users to privately message each other as a significant part of the provision of the website, service, or application.
The bill prohibits social media platforms from gathering, using, selling, offering, or retaining data relating to a minor’s use of or interaction with a social media platform. The bill also prohibits social media platforms from selecting, prioritizing, deprioritizing, or recommending content for a minor based on data gathered about the minor or from a device used by the minor to access the Internet. The bill contains certain exceptions to these prohibitions, including that a social media platform may gather and retain the data necessary for a minor to establish and maintain the minor’s social media platform account, and a social media platform may suggest content for a minor in response to a specific search conducted by the minor on the social media platform. The bill requires social media platforms to employ a reliable, industry-accepted method approved by the Department of Justice that determines whether a user of the social media platform is a minor, and requires social media platforms to prevent targeted advertising from being shown to a minor user of the social media platform.
The bill requires DOJ to create and maintain a website to receive complaints, information, or referrals from the public regarding a social media platform’s alleged compliance or noncompliance with the bill. DOJ may investigate violations of the provisions in the bill and may bring an action in the name of the state seeking a civil forfeiture of not more than $5,000 per violation, attorney fees, court costs, injunctive relief, and other relief or course of action that a court deems reasonable.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SB758,1
1
Section

1
.
134.07 of the statutes is created to read:
SB758,2,3
2
134.07

Social media platforms’ treatment of minors.

(1)

Definitions.

3
In this section:
SB758,2,5
4
(a) “Minor” means an individual who is under 18 years of age and who resides
5
in this state.
SB758,2,7
6
(b) “Social media platform” means a public or semipublic online website,
7
service, or application that satisfies all of the following:
SB758,2,8
8
1. The website, service, or application is used by a minor in this state.
SB758,2,10
9
2. The website, service, or application allows users to construct a public or
10
semipublic profile for the purposes of using the website, service, or application.
SB758,2,14
11
3. The website, service, or application allows users to create or post content
12
that is viewable by other users, including on message boards, in chat rooms, or
13
through a landing page or main feed that presents the user with content generated
14
by other users.
SB758,3,2
1
4. The website, service, or application allows users to privately message each
2
other as a significant part of the provision of the website, service, or application.
SB758,3,11
3
(c) “Targeted advertising” means displaying or presenting an online
4
advertisement to a consumer or to a device identified by a unique persistent
5
identifier or to a group of consumers or devices identified by unique persistent
6
identifiers if the advertisement is selected based in whole or in part on known or
7
predicted preferences, characteristics, behavior, or interests associated with the
8
consumer or a device identified by a unique persistent identifier. “Targeted
9
advertising” includes displaying or presenting the advertisement and marketing
10
measurement related to such advertisements. “Targeted advertising” does not
11
include first-party advertising or contextual advertising.
SB758,3,23
12
(d) “Unique persistent identifier” means a technologically created identifier to
13
the extent that such identifier is reasonably linkable to a consumer or a device that
14
identifies or is linked or reasonably linkable to one or more consumers, including
15
device identifiers, Internet Protocol addresses, cookies, beacons, pixel tags, mobile
16
advertisement identifiers or similar technology customer numbers, unique
17
pseudonyms, user aliases, telephone numbers, or other forms of persistent or
18
probabilistic identifiers that are linked or reasonably linkable to one or more
19
consumers or devices. “Unique persistent identifier” does not include an identifier
20
assigned by a controller for the sole purpose of giving effect to the exercise of
21
affirmative consent or opt out by a consumer with respect to the collecting,
22
processing, and transfer of personal data or otherwise limiting the collecting,
23
processing, or transfer of personal data.
SB758,4,3
24
(2)

Data privacy.
Except as provided in sub. (4) and as necessary to comply
1
with the requirements of this section, no social media platform may gather, use,
2
sell, offer, or retain data relating to a minor’s use of or interaction with a social
3
media platform.
SB758,4,8
4
(3)

Data-based recommendation, selection, or prioritization.
Except as
5
provided in sub. (4), based on data gathered about the minor or from a device used
6
by the minor to access the Internet, no social media platform may select, prioritize,
7
or deprioritize for a minor, or recommend to a minor, information, content, or a
8
feature of a social media platform.
SB758,4,11
9
(4)

Exceptions.
(a) Notwithstanding sub. (2), a social media platform may
10
gather and retain the data necessary for a minor to establish and maintain the
11
minor’s account on the social media platform.
SB758,4,13
12
(b) Notwithstanding sub. (3), a social media platform may select or prioritize
13
specific content for a minor if any of the following applies:
SB758,4,15
14
1. The minor has clearly and expressly requested the selection or
15
prioritization of the specific content.
SB758,4,17
16
2. The specific content is provided to the minor via direct message from
17
another user on the social media platform.
SB758,4,20
18
3. The specific content is the next piece of content in a preexisting sequence of
19
content from the same user of the social media platform as the immediately
20
preceding content viewed by the minor.
SB758,4,24
21
(c) Notwithstanding sub. (3), a social media platform may deprioritize or block
22
certain content for a minor when reasonably based on privacy or accessibility
23
settings selected by the minor or if the minor has clearly and expressly requested
24
the certain content to be deprioritized or blocked.
SB758,5,4
1
(d) Notwithstanding sub. (3), a social media platform may select, prioritize,
2
deprioritize, or recommend specific information, content, or a feature of a social
3
media platform in response to a specific search conducted by the minor on the social
4
media platform.
SB758,5,7
5
(5)

Age verification.
A social media platform shall employ a reliable,
6
industry-accepted method approved by the department of justice that determines
7
whether a user of the social media platform is a minor.
SB758,5,9
8
(6)

Targeted advertising to minors.
A social media platform shall prevent
9
targeted advertising from being shown to a minor user of the social media platform.
SB758,5,13
10
(7)

Enforcement and penalties.
(a) The department of justice shall create
11
and maintain a website to receive complaints, information, or referrals from the
12
public regarding a social media platform’s alleged compliance or noncompliance
13
with this section.
SB758,5,15
14
(b) The department of justice may investigate violations of this section and
15
may bring an action in the name of the state seeking injunctive relief.
SB758,5,18
16
(c) The department of justice may bring an action in the name of the state to
17
recover a civil forfeiture of not more than $5,000 per violation of this section, court
18
costs, and notwithstanding s. 814.04 (1), reasonable attorney fees.
SB758,5,23
19
(d) A person affected by a violation of this section, or a person on behalf of a
20
person affected by a violation of this section, may bring a civil action to recover the
21
person’s actual damages, an award of punitive damages not to exceed $5,000, court
22
costs, and notwithstanding the limitations under s. 814.04 (1), reasonable attorney
23
fees.
SB758,6,4
24
(e) In addition to the relief stated under pars. (b) to (d), a court may order any
1
other relief or course of action the court deems reasonable, including an order for
2
the disgorgement of any money that a violator received in the course of violating
3
this section and an order that the person who violated this section pay the disgorged
4
money to any injured individuals.
SB758,2
5
Section

2
. Nonstatutory provisions.
SB758,6,6
6
(
1
)
Legislative findings.
The legislature finds all of the following:
SB758,6,7
7
(
a
)

Social media is a widely used tool for community and communication.
SB758,6,11
8
(
b
)

Some social media platforms have evolved to include addictive features,
9
including the algorithmic delivery of content and other design features, that pose a
10
significant risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and
11
adolescents.
SB758,6,17
12
(
c
)

The U.S. surgeon general has found evidence that identifies reasons for
13
concern about social media usage by children and adolescents, including a study
14
concluding that the risk of poor mental health outcomes doubles for children and
15
adolescents who use social media at least 3 hours a day and research finding that
16
social media usage is linked to a variety of negative health outcomes, including low
17
self-esteem and disordered eating in adolescent girls.
SB758,6,19
18
(
d
)

Heavy usage of social media leads to less healthy sleep patterns and sleep
19
quality, which can in turn exacerbate both physical and mental health problems.
SB758,6,23
20
(
e
)

Social media usage is associated with more negative mental health
21
outcomes, including depressive symptoms and self-harm behaviors, than is
22
associated with consumption of other forms of media such as television or video
23
games.
SB758,7,3
24
(
f
)

Targeted advertisements on social media can expose children and
1
adolescents to harmful content, including alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and extreme
2
weight loss, and amplify their preexisting vulnerabilities to anxiety, depression,
3
and eating disorders.
SB758,7,6
4
(
g
)

Both this state and the country as a whole are facing an ongoing youth
5
mental health crisis, with rates of adolescent suicides, depressive episodes, and
6
feelings of sadness and hopelessness on the rise in recent years.
SB758,7,9
7
(
h
)

For these reasons, it is essential that this state act to ensure that social
8
media platforms prohibit addictive social media features and targeted advertising
9
for children and adolescents.
SB758,3
10
Section

3
. Effective date.
SB758,7,12
11
(
1
)

This act takes effect on the first day of the 3rd month beginning after
12
publication.
SB758,7,13
13
(end)

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true

proposaltext

/2025/related/proposals/sb758

proposaltext/2025/REG/SB758

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true

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