REQUEST BLOCKING WEBSITE ACCESS
This bill provides that a commercial entity that knowingly publishes or distributes material harmful to minors from a website containing a substantial portion of material that is harmful to minors must provide subscribers the opportunity, before accessing the material, to request that the commercial entity block website access through the subscriber's internet or cellular service subscription, using a commercially reasonable method. " Substantial portion" is defined in this bill as more than 33 1/3 percent of total material on a website.
Additionally, upon request by a subscriber, this bill requires that a commercial entity, without charge, block access to the entity's website on any device seeking to access the entity's website using the subscriber's internet or cellular service subscription so that a minor does not receive material that is harmful to minors when using the subscriber's subscription.
RESCINDING REQUEST TO BLOCK
This bill authorizes a commercial entity to allow a subscriber whose adult age has been verified to rescind a prior request to block access to the entity's website.
LIABILITY
This bill provides that a commercial entity that fails to provide subscribers with an opportunity to request that access to the entity's website be blocked is in violation of this bill, and may be held liable to the minor, by and through the minor's parent or legal guardian, for actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees.
Additionally, this bill provides that a commercial entity that, after receipt of a subscriber's request to block access, allows a minor to access material harmful to minors on the entity's website through the subscriber's internet or cellular service subscription may be held liable to the minor, by and through the minor's parent or legal guardian, for nominal damages; actual damages; punitive damages, as provided in present law, if appropriate; court costs; and reasonable attorney fees.
However, this bill provides that a commercial entity is not liable under this bill for allowing access to the entity's website if the entity uses reasonable age verification methods to verify that the individual attempting to access the material on the entity's website is not a minor.
As used in this bill, "reasonable age verification methods" means verifying that the person seeking access to material is not a minor by using any of the following methods:
(1) A digitized information card;
(2) Verification through an independent third-party age verification service that compares the personal information entered by the individual who is seeking access with material that is available from a commercially available database, or aggregate of databases, that is regularly used by government agencies and businesses for the purpose of age and identity verification; or
(3) A commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify the age of the person attempting to access the material. As used in this bill, "transactional data" means a sequence of information that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for the purpose of satisfying a request or event; and includes records from mortgage, education, and employment entities.
RETAINING INFORMATION
This bill provides that a commercial entity or third party that uses reasonable age verification methods must not retain identifying information of the individual after granting access to the material. A commercial entity that knowingly retains identifying information of an individual, except as necessary to effectuate a block request pursuant to this bill, is liable to the individual for any damages resulting from retaining the information, including court costs and attorney fees as ordered by the court.
NEWS OR PUBLIC INTEREST
This bill does not apply to news or public interest broadcasts, website videos, reports, or events and does not affect the rights of a news-gathering organization, unless the organization's website contains a substantial portion of material harmful to minors. As used in this bill, a "news-gathering organization" means the following:
(1) An employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news source, whether printed or on an online or mobile platform, of current news and public interest while performing an official job function who can provide documentation of employment; or
(2) An employee of a radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service while performing an official job function who can provide documentation of employment.
NOT UNDER PROVIDER'S CONTROL
This bill provides that an internet service provider, affiliate, or subsidiary of an internet service provider, search engine, or cloud service provider is not in violation of this bill for providing access or connection to or from a website or other information or content on the internet, or a facility, system, or network not under that provider's control, including transmissions, downloading, storing, or providing access, to the extent that the provider is not responsible for the creation of the content of the communication that creates material harmful to minors.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
This bill authorizes the attorney general to seek injunctive relief and other equitable relief against a commercial entity that fails to comply with this bill. The attorney general may issue guidance to assist commercial entities in complying with this bill.