H.F. 489 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 235G.1 Definitions. 1 As used in this chapter, unless context otherwise requires: 2 1. “Commercial entity” includes corporations, limited 3 liability companies, partnerships, limited partnerships, sole 4 proprietorships, or other legally recognized entities. 5 2. “Distribute” means to issue, sell, give, provide, 6 deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any 7 means. 8 3. “Material harmful to minors” means all of the following: 9 a. Any material that the average person, applying 10 contemporary community standards would find, taking the 11 material as a whole and with respect to minors, is designed to 12 appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest. 13 b. Any material that exploits, is devoted to, or principally 14 consists of descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated 15 displays or depictions of any of the following, in a manner 16 patently offensive with respect to minors: 17 (1) Pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or nipple of the 18 female breast. 19 (2) Touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, 20 buttocks, anuses, or genitals. 21 (3) Sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, 22 oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, 23 exhibitions, or any other sexual act. 24 c. The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, 25 artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. 26 4. “Minor” means a person under the age of eighteen. 27 5. “News-gathering organization” means any of the following: 28 a. An employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news 29 source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of current 30 news and public interest, while operating as an employee, who 31 can provide documentation of such employment. 32 b. An employee of a radio broadcast station, television 33 broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service 34 while operating as an employee, who can provide documentation 35 -1- LSB 1632YH (1) 90 as/rh 1/ 5

H.F. 489 of such employment. 1 6. “Publish” means to communicate or make information 2 available to another person or entity on a publicly available 3 internet website. 4 7. “Reasonable age verification methods” means verifying that 5 the person seeking to access the material is eighteen years of 6 age or older by any of the following methods: 7 a. Providing a digitized identification card or mobile 8 identification. 9 b. Requiring the person attempting to access the material to 10 comply with a commercial age verification system that verifies 11 the material through one or more of the following: 12 (1) Government-issued identification. 13 (2) Any commercially reasonable method that relies on 14 public or private transactional data to verify that the age of 15 the person attempting to access the information is at least 16 eighteen years of age or older. 17 8. “Substantial portion” means more than thirty-three 18 and one-third percent of total material on a website that 19 constitutes material harmful to minors. 20 9. “Transactional data” means a sequence of information 21 that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between 22 an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for 23 the purpose of satisfying a request or event. “Transactional 24 data” may include but is not limited to records from mortgage, 25 education, and employment entities. 26 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 235G.2 Civil liability for publishers 27 and distributors of material harmful to minors. 28 1. a. Any commercial entity that knowingly and 29 intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful 30 to minors on the internet from a website that contains 31 a substantial portion of such material shall be held 32 civilly liable if the entity fails to perform reasonable 33 age verification methods to verify the age of individuals 34 attempting to access the material. 35 -2- LSB 1632YH (1) 90 as/rh 2/ 5

H.F. 489 b. Any commercial entity or third party that performs the 1 required age verification shall not retain any identifying 2 information about the individual after access has been granted 3 to the material. 4 c. (1) Any commercial entity that is found to have violated 5 this section shall be civilly liable to an individual for 6 damages resulting from a minor’s accessing the material, 7 including court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered 8 by the court. 9 (2) A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly 10 retained identifying information of the individual after access 11 has been granted to the individual shall be civilly liable 12 to the individual for damages resulting from retaining the 13 identifying information, including court costs and reasonable 14 attorney fees as ordered by the court. 15 2. a. This section shall not apply to any bona fide 16 news or public interest broadcast, website video, report, or 17 event and shall not be construed to affect the rights of any 18 news-gathering organizations. 19 b. An internet service provider, or its affiliates or 20 subsidiaries, a search engine, or a cloud service provider 21 shall not be in violation of the provisions of this section 22 solely for providing access or a connection to or from a 23 website or other information or content on the internet 24 or to or from a facility, system, or network not under 25 that provider’s control to the extent such provider is 26 not responsible for the creation of the content of the 27 communication that constitutes material harmful to minors. 28 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 235G.3 Civil remedy —— parent or legal 29 guardian. 30 1. A parent or legal guardian of a minor may institute a 31 civil action for damages in the amount of seventy-five thousand 32 dollars for each violation of section 235G.2. 33 2. A court shall award the prevailing party in an action 34 under this section court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and 35 -3- LSB 1632YH (1) 90 as/rh 3/ 5

H.F. 489 expert witness fees. 1 EXPLANATION 2 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 3 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 4 This bill relates to civil liability for commercial entities 5 who publish or distribute material harmful to minors on the 6 internet. 7 The bill provides any commercial entity that knowingly 8 and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful 9 to minors on the internet from a website that contains 10 a substantial portion of such material shall be held 11 civilly liable if the entity fails to perform reasonable 12 age verification methods to verify the age of individuals 13 attempting to access the material. Any commercial entity that 14 is found in violation shall be civilly liable to an individual 15 for damages resulting from a minor’s accessing the material, 16 including court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered 17 by the court. 18 The bill provides that a commercial entity or third party 19 that performs the required age verification shall not retain 20 any identifying information of the individual after access has 21 been granted to the material. A commercial entity that is 22 found to have knowingly retained identifying information of 23 the individual after access has been granted to the individual 24 shall be civilly liable to the individual for damages resulting 25 from retaining the identifying information, including court 26 costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court. 27 The bill provides that the requirements do not apply to 28 any bona fide news or public interest broadcast, website 29 video, report, or event and shall not be construed to affect 30 the rights of any news-gathering organizations. No internet 31 service provider, search engine, or cloud service provider 32 shall be held to have violated the provisions of the bill to 33 the extent such provider is not responsible for the creation 34 of the content of the communication that constitutes material 35 -4- LSB 1632YH (1) 90 as/rh 4/ 5

H.F. 489 harmful to minors. 1 The bill provides a civil remedy for a parent or legal 2 guardian of a minor for damages in the amount of $75,000 for 3 each violation, and the prevailing party shall be awarded court 4 costs, reasonable attorney fees, and expert witness fees. 5 The bill provides definitions for “commercial entity”, 6 “distribute”, “material harmful to minors”, “minor”, 7 “news-gathering organization”, “publish”, “reasonable 8 age verification methods”, “substantial portion”, and 9 “transactional data”. 10 -5- LSB 1632YH (1) 90 as/rh 5/ 5