Online safety & content laws in Puerto Rico (2026)
Online safety rules in Puerto Rico: partial.
As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico is covered by federal internet rules: Section 230 provides broad platform immunity for third-party content, while there is no comprehensive federal online-safety law in force (KOSA and COPPA 2.0 remain pending in Congress as of 2026). Puerto Rico has enacted its own targeted measures, notably the Children and Youth Cyber-Privacy Protection Act (Act 185-2024, effective March 1, 2025), plus data-privacy and cybersecurity statutes. The overall picture is a patchwork of partial rules rather than a single comprehensive content-moderation/online-safety framework.
Legal framework
U.S. federal law governs platform liability and online safety (Section 230 of the Communications Act / 47 U.S.C. §230, COPPA, FOSTA-SESTA), supplemented by Puerto Rico's own minor-protection statute (Act 185-2024, Children and Youth Cyber-Privacy Protection Act) and data-privacy/cybersecurity laws. There is no comprehensive online-safety/content-moderation regime comparable to the EU DSA or UK OSA.
Key points: internet & online safety in Puerto Rico
Platform liability (Section 230)
Federal 47 U.S.C. §230 grants interactive computer services broad immunity from liability for third-party (user) content, while still requiring removal of material violating federal criminal, IP, and sex-trafficking law. This applies in Puerto Rico as U.S. federal law.
No comprehensive federal online-safety law yet
Unlike the EU DSA or UK OSA, the U.S. has no enacted comprehensive online-safety statute. The Kids Online Safety Act (S.1748) and COPPA 2.0 advanced through committees in early 2026 but were not yet in force.
Puerto Rico minor-protection law (Act 185-2024)
The Children and Youth Cyber-Privacy Protection Act, signed Aug 27, 2024 and effective March 1, 2025, bars publishing a minor's personal information on social networking platforms without consent of the minor and parents/guardians, for users under 18 residing in Puerto Rico.
Enforcement authority
The Puerto Rico Telecommunications Bureau (Negociado de Telecomunicaciones) regulates, receives complaints, and enforces Act 185-2024, with fines up to $25,000 per violation.
Age verification
No general age-verification mandate is in force. Federal proposals (KOSA, App Store Accountability Act) direct study of device/OS-level age checks rather than mandating verification; Puerto Rico's Act 185 focuses on minors' data privacy rather than age-gating.
Data & cybersecurity backdrop
Puerto Rico's broader digital rules include the Citizen Notice on Databank Security Act (Act 111-2005), the Privacy Policy Notification Act (Act 39-2012), DACO Regulation 9158, and the Cybersecurity Act (Act 40-2024), which shape obligations on platforms handling residents' data.
Sources
- law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230
- congress.gov/crs-product/R46751
- congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1748/text
- rollcall.com/2026/03/06/kids-online-safety-bills-move-forward-from-senate-house-pa
- ferraiuoli.com/news/notice-to-clients-and-friends-children-and-youth-cyber-privacy-p
- ncsl.org/technology-and-communication/social-media-and-children-2025-legislati
- dataguidance.com/jurisdiction/puerto-rico
- mintz.com/mintz-matrix/puerto-rico
- fortune.com/2026/03/18/kosa-kids-act-app-store-accountability-act-minors-age-veri
- dwt.com/insights/2026/01/federal-online-safety-legislation-hits-congress
Next for Puerto Rico: CybersecurityComprehensive law
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026