Social Media Providers: Adolescent Use of Social Media
IN Social Media Minors Act
Children
Added by HEA 1408 (2026), P.L.100-2026, and effective January 1, 2027, this article requires large, addictive-design social media platforms to screen the age of Indiana account applicants. Users under 16 need verifiable parental consent to open an account. Minors' accounts must have direct messaging, search visibility, personalized feeds and ads, and addictive features turned off, and parents get monitoring and time-limit controls.
- Where
- Indiana
- Citation
- Ind. Code art. 24-16 (IC 24-16-1-1 to 24-16-6-1)
- Status
- Enacted, not yet in force
- In force since
- 2027-01-01
- Enforced by
- Indiana Attorney General (as a deceptive act under IC 24-5-0.5)
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- A violation is a deceptive act actionable by the Attorney General and subject to IC 24-5-0.5 penalties and remedies (IC 24-16-6-1).
- Applies to
- Social media providers: user-content platforms that use algorithms to select content, have at least one listed addictive feature (infinite scroll, seamless content, public reaction counts, autoplay, or live streaming), have at least 10% of under-16 daily active users averaging 2+ hours a day, and whose owner group had $1 billion or more in global gross revenue in one of the prior three years (IC 24-16-2-5(a))
- Excludes email and private direct-messaging-only services, device makers and app stores, and communications service providers (IC 24-16-2-5(b)); does not apply to emancipated minors (IC 24-16-1-1)
What a privacy notice must say
- Notify noncompliant adolescent accounts within 7 days, allow 30 days to dispute through parental consent or transactional-data age verification, and otherwise terminate the account.IC 24-16-4-2 · From 2027-01-01
Rights it gives people
- Offer consenting parents a separate password to monitor time spent, set daily, weekly, and time-of-day limits, and access the account at any time.IC 24-16-3-2(d) · From 2027-01-01
Practices it requires
- Use commercially reasonable means, such as a neutral age screen, to determine the age and state of residence of account applicants; open an account for an Indiana resident under 16 only with verifiable parental consent (COPPA standard).IC 24-16-3-1; IC 24-16-2-7 · From 2027-01-01
- For known Indiana adolescents, disable direct messages except from linked accounts, search visibility except to linked accounts, use-based content, recommendations, and advertising, and addictive features, and do not let the adolescent change these settings.IC 24-16-3-2(a)-(c) · From 2027-01-01
- Re-check the age of Indiana account holders after 25 and again after 50 hours of use in a six-month period, and treat users as adolescents when the provider knows or has reason to know they are under 16.IC 24-16-4-1 · From 2027-01-01
- Use information received for parental consent only to register consent, and delete it immediately afterward unless other law requires keeping it.IC 24-16-5-1 · From 2027-01-01
Sources
- Official text
- Indiana Code 2026, Title 24, Article 16 (Indiana General Assembly)
- HEA 1408 (2026), P.L.100-2026, SECTION 14 adding IC 24-16 effective January 1, 2027; signed March 4, 2026
- Enrolled HEA 1408 (2026) PDF
- ACLU of Indiana, Restricting Minor Access to Social Media (HEA 1408) (secondary; context on expected challenge)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: No lawsuit challenging IC 24-16 was found: a CourtListener search for 'NetChoice' and 'Rokita' dockets returned none as of 2026-09-25, and news coverage (ACLU of Indiana) expects a challenge. Recheck before January 1, 2027.
Research reference, not legal advice.