HB1178
Minor access to social media.
TL;DR
This Indiana bill from Rep. Joanna King would require social media platforms to get verifiable parental consent before letting anyone under 14 create an account, and would force platforms to give parents control over their kids' accounts. It's a social media age-verification law, not really an AI bill, but it hits any platform using algorithmic feeds or recommendation systems for minors.
How This Might Impact Your Business
Social media companies operating in Indiana would need to build age-verification systems for all users, not just suspected minors, and periodically re-verify ages of Indiana account holders.
Platforms must obtain verifiable parental consent (similar to COPPA standards) before creating accounts for anyone under 14, adding friction to user acquisition in Indiana.
Companies must offer parents a separate password to set usage limits, and must disable certain features and functionality for minor accounts (likely including algorithmic recommendations, direct messaging with strangers, and targeted advertising).
Non-compliant platforms face private civil lawsuits from minors or parents, plus enforcement by the Indiana Attorney General under the state's unfair trade practices authority, meaning both statutory damages and injunctive relief exposure.
Account termination processes must be simple and fast, requiring platforms to build dedicated parent-facing UX flows and honor deletion requests within a set timeframe.
Data collected for parental consent verification is subject to use and retention restrictions, adding privacy compliance overhead on top of existing COPPA and state privacy laws.
Similar laws in Utah, Arkansas, and Ohio have faced First Amendment challenges and injunctions, so implementation timelines may slip even if the bill passes.
What Should You Do
If you operate a consumer social platform or any service with social features (gaming, messaging, UGC), have your product and legal teams map which features would need to be disabled for Indiana minor accounts.
Get pricing and technical scoping from age-verification vendors (Yoti, Persona, Incode) now, since multiple states are passing similar laws and vendor capacity is tightening.
Ask your legal team whether your current COPPA parental consent flows would satisfy Indiana's 'verifiable parental consent' standard, and identify gaps.
Track this bill through the Indiana House Judiciary Committee and monitor parallel litigation in other states (NetChoice cases) that will shape whether this survives constitutional review.
Review your data retention policies for parental consent records, since Indiana will impose specific use and retention limits distinct from federal COPPA rules.
Who It Affects
Sponsors
Status Timeline
introduced
First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary
January 5, 2026