By FOCUS, a Leonine Business
Following the passage of Utah’s Digital Choice Act in 2025, some states are expected to introduce or have already introduced their own versions of the bill this year. But what does the bill do?
The Digital Choice Act (2025) has the aim to give consumers’ agency over their own data on social media platforms. The law, which doesn’t take effect until July 1, 2026, requires social media platforms to offer:
- Data portability, which offers users the ability to receive their own personal data by downloading it to move to another platform if desired. An example of data portability is a consumer’s right to move telephone numbers from one provider to another, a right that was enumerated by the Telecommunications Act of 1966.
- Data interoperability, which is the ability for platforms to work well together so that a user can make their data move from one platform to another.
Following the temporary Tik Tok shutdown in January of 2025, many users were cut off from their data and content until the app was restored. The Digital Choice Act claims to get users the ability to have more access and rights to that content and data.
States that have so far prefiled or introduced their own versions of the Digital Choice Act include New York’s AB 8963, which is pending in the Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee, and South Carolina HB 4666, which was prefiled December 16 and referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
FOCUS will continue to monitor Digital Choice Act legislation in states across the country.
by Alexis Caswell 1/12/26
