With the rapid advancement of the new individual economy, a plethora of unlawful and chaotic activities have emerged, challenging the rationale of social responsibility governance centered around platform enterprises. The motivations behind the new individual economy’s fulfillment of social responsibilities was initially examined, namely its social attributes, ownership characteristics and the necessity for sustainable development, which compelled it to assume the role of a social responsibility bearer. Nonetheless, several practical issues arise when the new individual economy undertakes social responsibilities, including a lack of social responsibility awareness, ambiguous social responsibility subjects, and difficulties in social responsibility oversight. Consequently, a content framework for the social responsibility of the new individual economy is established. The entity responsible for fulfilling social responsibility is the new individual economic operator. The beneficiaries of social responsibility encompass both direct and indirect stakeholders, and the scope of social responsibility is categorized into six domains including legal, economic, ethical, industrial, philanthropic and public welfare responsibilities. Depending on the level of social responsibility, these can be further classified into mandatory, essential and aspirational social responsibilities. Tailored governance models are proposed based on the distinct features of each type of social responsibility, such as a government-led governance model for mandatory social responsibilities, a management-led governance model for essential social responsibilities, and a platform-led governance model for aspirational social responsibilities.