1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
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3 SENATE BILL 1959 By: Alvord
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 An Act relating to consumer protection; defining
7 terms; allowing for damages to be sought under
8 certain conditions; prohibiting commercial entities
8 from distributing certain material without
9 verification; providing for lawful access to certain
9 material; preventing a commercial entity from being
10 held liable under certain conditions; prohibiting a
10 commercial entity from retaining individual’s
11 information; exempting certain providers; requiring
11 Attorney General to take certain action; authorizing
12 Attorney General to develop certain regulations;
12 providing for severability; providing for
13 codification; and providing an effective date.
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16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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17 SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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18 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791 of Title 15, unless there is
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19 created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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20 As used in this act:
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21 1. “Child pornography” means the same as used in Section 1024.1
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22 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
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23 2. “Child sexual exploitation” means the same as used in
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24 Section 843.5 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
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 1 3. “Commercial entity” means a corporation, limited liability
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2 company, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship, or
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3 other legally recognized entity;
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4 4. “Digitized identification card” means a data file available
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5 on any mobile device, which has connectivity to the Internet,
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6 through a state-approved application that allows the mobile device
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7 to download the data file from a state agency or any authorized
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8 agent of a state agency that contains all of the data elements
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9 visible on the face and back of a license or identification card and
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10 displays the current state of the licensed or identification card;
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11 5. “Distribute” means to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver,
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12 transfer, transmit, circulate, or disseminate by any means;
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13 6. “Harmful to minors” means the same as terms defined in
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14 Sections 1040.75 through 1040.77 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma
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15 Statutes;
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16 7. “Internet” means the international computer network of both
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17 federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks;
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18 8. “Minor” means any person eighteen (18) years of age or
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19 younger;
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20 9. “News-gathering organization” means any of the following:
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21 a. an employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news
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22 source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of
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23 current news and public interest, while operating as
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24 an employee as provided in this subsection, who can
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 1 provide documentation of such employment with the
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2 newspaper, news publication, or news source, or
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3 b. an employee of a radio broadcast station, television
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4 broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire
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5 service while operating as an employee as provided in
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6 this subsection, who can provide documentation of such
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7 employment;
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8 10. “Obscene material” means the same as used in Section 1024.1
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9 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
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10 11. “Publish” means to communicate or make information
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11 available to another person or entity on a publicly available
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12 Internet website;
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13 12. “Reasonable age verification methods” means verifying that
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14 the person seeking access to the available material is eighteen (18)
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15 years of age or older by using the following methods:
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16 a. use of a digitized identification card as defined in
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17 this section,
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18 b. verification through an independent, third-party age
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19 verification service that compares the personal
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20 information entered by the individual who is seeking
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21 access to the material that is available from a
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22 commercially available database, or aggregate of
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23 databases, that is regularly used by government
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 1 agencies and businesses for purpose of age and
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2 identity verification, or
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3 c. any commercially reasonable method that relies on
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4 public or private transactional data to verify the age
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5 of the person attempting to access the material;
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6 13. “Substantial portion” means when more than a third of the
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7 total material available on the website meets the definition of
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8 material harmful to minors as defined in this section; and
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9 14. “Transactional data” means a sequence of information that
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10 documents as exchange, agreement, or transfer between an individual,
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11 commercial entity, or a third party used for the purpose of
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12 satisfying a request or event. Transactional data may include, but
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13 not be limited to, records from mortgage, education, and employment
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14 entities.
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15 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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16 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.1 of Title 15, unless there
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17 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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18 A. Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
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19 publishes or distributes obscene material, or material that depicts
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20 or promotes child pornography or child sexual exploitation, on the
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21 Internet may be held liable to an individual for nominal damages,
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22 actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees as ordered
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23 by the court.
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 1 B. A commercial entity that has violated this act in a manner
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2 that satisfies standards for imposition of punitive damages
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3 elsewhere provided by law may be held liable to an individual for
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4 punitive damages.
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5 C. Individual claims that satisfy the generally applicable
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6 standards for joinder or class action elsewhere provided by law or
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7 rules of court, as applicable, may combine their claims in a single
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8 action.
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9 SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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10 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.2 of Title 15, unless there
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11 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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12 A. Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
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13 publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the Internet
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14 from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material
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15 shall provide Internet service subscribers and cellular service
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16 subscribers the opportunity, before any individual using such
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17 services may access the material, to request that access to the
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18 material by subscription service be denied.
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19 B. Upon such request by an Internet service subscriber or
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20 cellular service subscriber, a commercial entity shall, without
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21 charge, block access to its website on any device seeking to access
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22 its website using the subscriber’s Internet service or cellular
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23 service subscription so that a minor does not receive material
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24 harmful to minors via that subscription.
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 1 C. A commercial entity that fails to provide Internet service
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2 subscribers or cellular service subscribers an opportunity to
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3 request that access to the commercial entity’s website be blocked is
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4 in violation of this act and may be held liable to the minor, by and
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5 through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for nominal damages,
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6 actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees as ordered
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7 by the court.
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8 D. A commercial entity that, after receipt of such request to
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9 block access, allows a minor to access material harmful to minors on
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10 its website is in violation of this act and may be held liable to
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11 the minor, by and through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for
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12 actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees as ordered
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13 by the court.
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14 E. A commercial entity that has violated this act in a manner
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15 that satisfies the standards for imposition of punitive damages
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16 elsewhere provided by law may be held liable to the minor, by and
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17 through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for punitive damages.
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18 F. Individual claims that satisfy the generally applicable
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19 standards for joinder or class action elsewhere provided by law or
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20 rules of court, as applicable, may combine their claims in a single
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21 action.
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22 G. A commercial entity shall not be held liable for allowing
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23 access to its website if the entity performs reasonable age
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 1 verification methods to verify that the individual attempting to
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2 access the material from its website is not a minor.
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3 H. A commercial entity or third party that performs reasonable
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4 age verification methods shall not retain any identifying
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5 information of the individual after access has been granted to the
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6 material.
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7 I. A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly retained
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8 identifying information of the individual, except as is reasonably
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9 necessary to effectuate a block request under this section, shall be
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10 liable to the individual for damages resulting from retaining the
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11 identifying information, including court costs and reasonable
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12 attorney fees as ordered by the court.
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13 J. This section shall not apply to any bona fide news or public
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14 interest broadcast, website video, report, or event and shall not be
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15 construed to affect the rights of a news-gathering organization,
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16 unless the organization’s website contains a substantial portion of
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17 material harmful to minors.
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18 K. No Internet service provider, affiliate or subsidiary of an
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19 Internet service provider, search engine, or cloud service provider
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20 shall be held to have violated the provisions of this section solely
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21 for providing access or connection to or from a website or other
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22 information or content on the Internet, or a facility, system, or
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23 network not under the provider’s control, including transmission,
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24 downloading, storing, or providing access, to the extent that such
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 1 provider is not responsible for the creation of the content of the
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2 communication that constitutes obscene material or material harmful
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3 to minors.
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4 SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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5 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.3 of Title 15, unless there
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6 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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7 A. The Attorney General may seek injunctive and other equitable
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8 relief against a commercial entity that fails to comply with the
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9 provisions of this act.
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10 B. The Attorney General is authorized and directed to develop
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11 and publish, consistent with the provisions of this act, guidance or
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12 regulations as appropriate to assist commercial entities to comply
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13 with this act.
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14 SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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15 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.4 of Title 15, unless there
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16 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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17 If any one or more provisions, sections, subsections, sentences,
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18 clauses, phrases, or words of this act or the application thereof to
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19 any person or circumstance is found to be unconstitutional, the same
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20 is hereby declared to be severable and the balance of this act shall
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21 remain effective notwithstanding such unconstitutionality. The
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22 Legislature hereby declares that it would have this act, and each
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23 provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
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24 thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more provisions,
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 1 sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words be
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2 declared unconstitutional.
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3 SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
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5 59-2-3007 MR 1/18/2024 1:18:08 PM
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