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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to requirements for certain Internet websites containing |
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sexual material harmful to minors; providing a civil penalty. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 120, Business & Commerce |
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Code, is amended to read as follows: |
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CHAPTER 120. SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND INTERNET WEBSITES |
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SECTION 2. Chapter 120, Business & Commerce Code, is |
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amended by adding Subchapter E to read as follows: |
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SUBCHAPTER E. SEXUAL MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS |
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Sec. 120.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: |
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(1) "Commercial entity" includes a corporation, |
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limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole |
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proprietorship, or other legally recognized business entity. |
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(2) "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide, |
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deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any |
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means. |
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(3) "Minor" means an individual younger than 18 years |
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of age. |
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(4) "News-gathering organization" includes: |
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(A) an employee of a newspaper, news publication, |
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or news source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of |
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current news and public interest, who is acting within the course |
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and scope of that employment and can provide documentation of that |
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employment with the newspaper, news publication, or news source; |
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and |
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(B) an employee of a radio broadcast station, |
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television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire |
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service who is acting within the course and scope of that employment |
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and can provide documentation of that employment. |
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(5) "Publish" means to communicate or make information |
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available to another person or entity on a publicly available |
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Internet website. |
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(6) "Sexual material harmful to minors" includes any |
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material that: |
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(A) the average person, applying contemporary |
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community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and |
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with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to or pander to the |
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prurient interest; |
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(B) in a manner patently offensive with respect |
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to minors, exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of |
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descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction |
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of: |
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(i) a person's pubic hair, anus, or genitals |
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or the nipple of the female breast; |
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(ii) touching, caressing, or fondling of |
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nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or |
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(iii) sexual intercourse, masturbation, |
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sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory |
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functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act; and |
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(C) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, |
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artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. |
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(7) "Transactional data" means a sequence of |
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information that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer |
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between an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for |
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the purpose of satisfying a request or event. The term includes |
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records from mortgage, education, and employment entities. |
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Sec. 120.202. PUBLICATION OF MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS. |
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(a) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes |
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or distributes material on an Internet website, including a social |
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media platform, more than one-third of which is sexual material |
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harmful to minors, shall use reasonable age verification methods as |
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described by Section 120.203 to verify that an individual |
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attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older. |
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(b) A commercial entity that performs the age verification |
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required by Subsection (a) or a third party that performs the age |
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verification required by Subsection (a) may not retain any |
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: ()
Senate Committee Report: ()
Engrossed: ()
House Committee Report: ()