SB0049 amends the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to create a new unlawful practice for certain large social media companies if they do not provide a free customer support service for reporting harmful content. The bill defines a “high-impact social media company” by revenue and user thresholds, targeting very large internet platforms that primarily host user-generated content.
Under the bill, covered companies would have to respond within one business day to a customer’s report, take active steps to address the complaint, and communicate those steps within three business days by the customer’s preferred method. The company would then have to continue updating the customer at least every three business days until the issue is resolved or determined unsolvable. The Attorney General would be authorized to enforce the requirement, and violations would carry a civil fine of $1,000 per day per violation. Collected fines would be directed to a fund supporting mental health awareness in Illinois.
Impact
The bill would add a new Section 2HHHH to the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, expanding state consumer-protection law to regulate complaint-handling practices of qualifying social media platforms. It would create a new enforceable duty for covered companies operating in Illinois, expose them to Attorney General enforcement, and establish monetary penalties for noncompliance. The measure would also create a dedicated use for penalty revenue by depositing fines into a mental health awareness fund.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of legislative debate or formal support/opposition in the available record. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears motivated by concerns about harmful online content and the responsiveness of major social media companies to user complaints, with an emphasis on consumer protection and mental health. The absence of voting history or hearing testimony means overall sentiment cannot be reliably assessed from the provided materials.
Contention
The main points of potential contention are likely to be the bill’s scope, enforcement burden, and possible First Amendment or platform-moderation concerns. Supporters would likely favor stronger accountability for large social media companies and faster response to reports of illegal or harmful content, while opponents may argue that the bill imposes costly operational mandates, uses a broad definition of covered companies, and could interfere with how platforms moderate user-generated content. The $1,000-per-day penalty and Attorney General enforcement authority are also likely to be debated.
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