F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 1129 2024
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to harm to minors; providing a short
3 title; creating s. 501.173, F.S.; defining terms;
4 requiring manufacturers of tablets or smartphones to
5 manufacture such devices so that a filter meeting
6 certain requirements is enabled upon activation of the
7 device in this state; subjecting such manufacturers to
8 civil and criminal liability for certain acts of
9 noncompliance; providing an exception; providing civil
10 liability for individuals who enable a password to
11 remove the required filter on a device in the
12 possession of a minor under certain circumstances;
13 authorizing the Attorney General to enforce the act;
14 providing damages; authorizing a parent or legal
15 guardian to bring a civil action against certain
16 parties who violate the act under certain
17 circumstances; providing criminal penalties; amending
18 s. 787.025, F.S.; increasing criminal penalties for
19 adults who intentionally lure or entice, or who
20 attempt to lure or entice, children under the age of
21 12 into a structure, dwelling, or conveyance for other
22 than a lawful purpose; increasing criminal penalties
23 for committing a second or subsequent offense;
24 increasing criminal penalties for persons with
25 specified previous convictions who commit such
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26 offense; creating s. 827.12, F.S.; defining the terms
27 "inappropriate relationship" and "sexual excitement";
28 prohibiting persons who are of at least a specified
29 age from knowingly engaging in any communication that
30 is part of a pattern of communication or behavior that
31 meets specified criteria; prohibiting persons who are
32 of at least a specified age from knowingly using
33 specified devices to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice
34 minors to, or attempt to, share specified images or
35 recorded images; providing criminal penalties;
36 providing enhanced criminal penalties; providing
37 applicability; amending s. 921.0022, F.S.; ranking
38 offenses on the offense severity ranking chart of the
39 Criminal Punishment Code; amending ss. 943.0435,
40 944.606, and 944.607, F.S.; revising the definition of
41 the term "sexual offender"; reenacting ss. 61.13(2)(c)
42 and (9)(c), 68.07(3)(i) and (6), 92.55(1)(b),
43 98.0751(2)(b), 394.9125(2), 397.487(10)(b),
44 435.07(4)(b), 775.0862(2), 900.05(2)(cc),
45 903.046(2)(m), 903.133, 907.043(4)(b), 921.1425(7)(d),
46 934.255(2)(a), 938.10(1), 943.0584(2), 943.0595(2)(a),
47 944.607(4)(a) and (9), 947.1405(12), 948.013(2)(b),
48 948.05(2)(f), 948.06(4), 948.30(4), 985.4815(9), and
49 1012.467(2)(b), F.S., relating to support of children,
50 parenting and time-sharing, and powers of court;
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51 change of name; special protections in proceedings
52 involving a victim or witness younger than 18 years of
53 age, a person with intellectual disability, or a
54 sexual offense victim; restoration of voting rights
55 and termination of ineligibility subsequent to a
56 felony conviction; state attorneys and the authority
57 to refer a person for civil commitment; voluntary
58 certification of recovery residences; exemptions from
59 disqualification; sexual offenses against students by
60 authority figures and reclassification; criminal
61 justice data collection; purpose of and criteria f or
62 bail determination; bail on appeal, prohibited for
63 certain felony convictions; pretrial release and
64 citizens' right to know; sentences of death or life
65 imprisonment for capital sexual battery and further
66 proceedings to determine sentence; subpoenas in
67 investigations of sexual offenses; additional court
68 cost imposed in cases of certain crimes; criminal
69 history records ineligible for court-ordered
70 expunction or court-ordered sealing; automatic sealing
71 of criminal history records and confidentiality of
72 related court records; notification to the Department
73 of Law Enforcement of information on sexual offenders;
74 conditional release program; administrative probation;
75 court to admonish or commend probationer or offender
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76 in community control and graduated incentives;
77 violation of probation or community control,
78 revocation, modification, continuance, and failure to
79 pay restitution or cost of supervision; additional
80 terms and conditions of probation or community control
81 for certain sex offenses; notification to department
82 of information on juvenile sexual offenders; and
83 noninstructional contractors who are permitted access
84 to school grounds when students are present and
85 background screening requirements, respectively, to
86 incorporate the amendment made to s. 943.0435, F.S.,
87 in references thereto; reenacting s. 944.608(7), F.S.,
88 relating to notification to the department of
89 information on career offenders, to incorporate the
90 amendment made to s. 944.607, F.S., in a reference
91 thereto; reenacting s. 943.0435(3) and (4)(a), F.S.,
92 relating to sexual offenders required to register with
93 the department and penalties, to incorporate the
94 amendments made to s. 944.606 and 944.607, F.S., in
95 references thereto; reenacting ss. 320.02(4),
96 322.141(3), 322.19(1) and (2), 775.13(4),
97 775.21(5)(d), (6)(f), and (10)(d), 775.261(3)(b),
98 948.06(4), and 948.063, F.S., relating to registration
99 required, applications for registration, and forms;
100 color or markings of certain licenses or
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101 identification cards; change of address or name;
102 registration of convicted felons, exemptions, and
103 penalties; the Florida Sexual Predators Act; the
104 Florida Career Offender Registration Act; violation of
105 probation or community control, revocation,
106 modification, continuance, and failure to pay
107 restitution or cost of supervision; and violations of
108 probation or community control by designated sexual
109 offenders and sexual predators, respectively, to
110 incorporate the amendments made by this act to ss.
111 943.0435 and 944.607, F.S., in references thereto;
112 reenacting ss. 775.24(2), 775.25, 943.0436(2), 948.31,
113 and 985.04(6)(b), relating to the duty of the court to
114 uphold laws governing sexual predators and sexual
115 offenders; prosecutions for acts or omissions; the
116 duty of the court to uphold laws governing sexual
117 predators and sexual offenders; evaluation and
118 treatment of sexual predators and offenders on
119 probation or community control; and oaths, records,
120 confidential information, respectively, to incorporate
121 the amendments made to ss. 943.0435, 944.606, and
122 944.607, F.S., in references thereto; providing an
123 effective date.
124
125 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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126
127 Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Protect Our
128 Children Act."
129 Section 2. Section 501.173, Florida Statutes, is created
130 to read:
131 501.173 Device filtering of content harmful to minors.—
132 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
133 (a) "Activate" means the process of powering on a device
134 and associating it with a new user account.
135 (b) "Device" means a tablet or smartphone manufactured on
136 or after January 1, 2025.
137 (c) "Filter" means software installed on a device which is
138 capable of preventing the device from accessing or displaying
139 material that is harmful to minors through the Internet or
140 through an application owned and controlled by the manufacturer
141 and installed on the device.
142 (d) "Harmful to minors" has the same meaning as in s.
143 847.001.
144 (e) "Internet" means the global information system
145 logically linked together by a globally unique address space
146 based on the Internet protocol (IP), or its subsequent
147 extensions, which is able to support communications using the
148 transmission control protocol/Internet protocol suite, or its
149 subsequent extensions, or other IP-compatible protocols, and
150 which provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly or
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151 privately, high-level services layered on communications and
152 related infrastructure.
153 (f) "Manufacturer" means a person that:
154 1. Is engaged in the business of manufacturing a device;
155 and
156 2. Has a registered agent in this state in accordance with
157 part I of chapter 607.
158 (g) "Minor" means an individual under the age of 18 who is
159 not emancipated, married, or a member of the Armed Forces of the
160 United States.
161 (h) "Smartphone" means an electronic device that combines
162 a cellular phone with a handheld computer, typically offering
163 Internet access, data storage, texting, and e-mail capabilities.
164 (i) "Tablet" means an Internet-ready device equipped with
165 an operating system, a touchscreen display, and a rechargeable
166 battery which has the ability to support access to a cellular
167 network.
168 (2) FILTER REQUIRED.—Beginning on January 1, 2025, a
169 manufacturer shall manufacture a device that, when activated in
170 this state, automatically enables a filter that does all of the
171 following:
172 (a) Prevents the user from accessing or downloading
173 material that is harmful to minors on any of the following:
174 1. A mobile data network.
175 2. An application owned and controlled by the
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176 manufacturer.
177 3. A wired Internet network.
178 4. A wireless Internet network.
179 (b) Notifies the user of the device when the filter blocks
180 the device from downloading an application or accessing an
181 Internet website.
182 (c) Gives a user with a password the opportunity to
183 unblock a filtered application or website.
184 (d) Reasonably precludes a user other than a user with a
185 password the opportunity to deactivate, modify, or uninstall the
186 filter.
187 (3) MANUFACTURER LIABILITY.—
188 (a) Beginning January 1, 2025, a manufacturer of a device
189 is subject to civil and criminal liability if:
190 1. The device is activated in this state;
191 2. The device does not, upon activation, enable a filter
192 that complies with the requirements described in subsection (2);
193 and
194 3. A minor accesses material that is harmful to minors on
195 the device.
196 (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), this section does not
197 apply to a manufacturer that makes a good faith effort to
198 provide a device that, upon activation of the device in this
199 state, automatically enables a generally accepted and
200 commercially reasonable filter in accordance with this section
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201 and industry standards.
202 (4) INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY.—With the exception of a minor's
203 parent or legal guardian, any person may be liable in a civil
204 action for enabling the password to remove the filter on a
205 device in the possession of a minor if the minor accesses
206 content that is harmful to minors on the device.
207 (5) PROCEEDINGS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—
208 (a) If the Attorney General has reason to believe a person
209 violated or is violating this section, the Attorney General,
210 acting in the public interest, may do any of the following:
211 1. Enjoin an action that constitutes a violation of this
212 section by issuing a temporary restraining order or preliminary
213 or permanent injunction.
214 2. Bring an action to recover from the alleged violator a
215 civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 p