Cybersecurity Policy Report, Social Media Data Deletion Act Advances in Hawaii, (Mar 5, 2026)
The Hawaii state House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs voted this week to pass a bill that would require certain social media platforms in Hawaii to provide users with a clear and accessible method to delete their accounts at any time.
The Hawaii Social Media Data Deletion Act (HB 1753) would require social media platforms to permanently erase all personal information associated with the deleted account and notify the user once the deletion was complete upon receiving a user’s confirmed request to delete their account. Platforms would be required to complete the deletion process within 45 days of a confirmed request, unless otherwise mandated by law, and maintain records of deletion requests and confirmations for a specified number of years to demonstrate compliance.
The bill would prohibit platforms from employing deceptive practices or designing user interfaces that make the deletion process “unnecessarily difficult or require excessive personal information beyond what is needed for verification.” It would authorize the state attorney general to enforce these provisions through civil actions, including seeking injunctive relief and imposing daily fines for violations.
“We are aware of consumer concerns that social media companies intentionally make it hard to leave their platforms, using confusing menus or ‘dark patterns’ to keep users and their data on the platform and available to the social media company. This bill requires a simple, one-click style deletion process. More importantly, it ensures that ‘deletion’ actually means the data is gone—not just hidden or archived—which protects consumers from future data breaches and identity theft,” the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said in support of the bill.
The bill (H.B. 1753, Reg Sess.) is sponsored by Rep. Shirley Templo (D.).
News: StateLegislation DataPrivacy