On September 11, 2026, NetChoice(plaintiff)filed a complaint against the State of Illinois(defendant), looking for a declaratory and injunctive relief for the newly adopted statewide Social Media Fee, in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Plaintiff NetChoice is a nonprofit trade association registered in the District of Columbia, whose members are part of the e-commerce industry.
Regulatory Background
On June 1, 2026, Illinois enacted a statewide Social Media Platform Fee under Senate Bill 3019 as part of the Fiscal Year 2027 budget package, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. This statewide “levy,” which specifically targets social media digital platforms, functions as a monthly fee that social media platform operators are mandated to remit based on the number of Illinois users from whom they collect data.
The adopted Senate Bill explicitly prohibits social media platforms from passing the fee cost directly or indirectly onto users.
The social media platforms that should readjust their compliance processes to align with the Social Media Platform Fee framework should be familiar with the following monthly fee structure, which is structured in accordance with the number of Illinois users:
- 100,000 to 500,000 Illinois users: USD 0.10 for each user above 100,000 per month
- 500,000 to 1,000,000 Illinois users: fixed payment USD 40,000, plus USD 0.25 for each user above 500,000 per month
- More than 1,000,000 Illinois users: fixed payment USD 165,000, plus USD 0.50 for each user above 1,000,000 per month
NetChoice vs. State of Illinois Complaint
The measure to introduce the Social Media Platform fee was enacted through Public Act 104-0468, and it becomes effective on January 1, 2027. It introduces an obligatory monthly fee for social media platform operators who have more than 100,000 Illinois-based users, from whom they collect user data.
NetChoice states that the fee is a sort of a new tax, and that as such(newly added tax) infringes the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act. Further, it argues that the newly introduced statewide social media fee violates the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause.
Next Steps
The filed complaint creates additional uncertainty on the “applicability of the enacted act,” but it doesn’t postpone its application. Unless the court accepts the complaint and issues injunctive relief or amends the adopted Act, the social media platform operators that surpass the Illinois-based user threshold should develop internal business processes that align with the new reporting obligations.