House File 2274 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2274 BY GUSTOFF A BILL FOR An Act requiring persons who operate certain internet 1 sites, applications, or a segment of an internet site or 2 application that contains material pornographic for minors 3 to perform reasonable age verification. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 6188YH (3) 91 dg/jh
H.F. 2274 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 554J.1 Definitions. 1 For purposes of this chapter: 2 1. “Application” means a software application or electronic 3 service that a user may run or direct on a mobile device. 4 2. “Commercial entity” means a legally recognized business 5 entity. 6 3. “Digital identification” means information stored on a 7 digital network that may be accessed by a commercial entity and 8 that serves as proof of the identity of an individual. 9 4. “Minor” means an individual under eighteen years of age. 10 5. “Mobile device” means a device described by all of the 11 following: 12 a. The device is small enough to be held and operated in 13 hand. 14 b. The device provides a cellular or wireless connection to 15 the internet. 16 c. The device has the ability to run an application. 17 6. “News-gathering organization” means any of the following: 18 a. A newspaper, news publication, or other commercial entity 19 with the primary purpose of serving as a source of current news 20 and public interest stories, regardless of the primary format 21 on which the entity publishes news. 22 b. An employee of a newspaper, news publication, or other 23 commercial entity with the primary purpose of serving as a 24 source of current news and public interest stories, who is 25 acting within the course and scope of that employment and can 26 provide documentation of that employment. 27 c. An employee of a radio broadcast station, television 28 broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service 29 who is acting within the course and scope of that employment 30 and can provide documentation of that employment. 31 7. “Pornographic for minors” means material or a performance 32 described by all of the following: 33 a. The average person, applying contemporary community 34 standards, would find that the material or performance, taken 35 -1- LSB 6188YH (3) 91 dg/jh 1/ 5
H.F. 2274 as a whole, has a tendency to cater or appeal to a prurient 1 interest of minors. 2 b. The material or performance depicts nudity, sexual 3 conduct, the condition of human genitals when in a state of 4 sexual stimulation or arousal, or sadomasochistic abuse in a 5 way which is patently offensive to the average person applying 6 contemporary adult community standards with respect to what is 7 suitable for minors. 8 c. The material or performance, taken as a whole, lacks 9 serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for 10 minors. 11 8. “Substantial portion” means thirty-three percent or more 12 of the total amount of data publicly available on an internet 13 site. 14 9. “Transactional data” means a sequence of information 15 that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between an 16 individual, commercial entity, or third party. 17 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 554J.2 Age verification. 18 1. A person shall not operate an internet site, an 19 application, or a segment of an internet site or application, 20 including on a social media platform, that contains a 21 substantial portion of content pornographic for minors unless 22 the person uses reasonable age verification to prevent minors 23 from accessing such content. 24 2. Reasonable age verification shall include any of the 25 following: 26 a. Requiring an individual to provide digital 27 identification. 28 b. A method that is commercially reasonable given a person’s 29 scope of business and that relies on transactional data to 30 verify an individual’s age. 31 c. A method approved by the attorney general by rule. 32 3. A person that performs reasonable age verification under 33 this section, including a third party that contracts with a 34 person to perform reasonable age verification for the person, 35 -2- LSB 6188YH (3) 91 dg/jh 2/ 5
H.F. 2274 shall not retain any identifying information of an individual 1 subject to reasonable age verification unless retention of the 2 identifying information is required by law or a court order. 3 4. A person that performs reasonable age verification 4 under this section, including a third party that contracts 5 with a person to perform reasonable age verification for the 6 person, shall use reasonable methods given the person’s scope 7 of business to secure all data collected and transmitted under 8 this section. 9 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 554J.3 Limitations. 10 This chapter shall not apply to any of the following: 11 1. A bona fide news or public interest broadcast, news 12 recording, report, or event. 13 2. A news-gathering organization. 14 3. An internet service provider, an internet service 15 provider’s affiliates and subsidiaries, a search engine, 16 or a cloud service provider solely for providing access or 17 connection to an internet site or other information or content 18 on the internet, in a facility, on a system, or on a network 19 not under the internet service provider’s, affiliate’s, 20 subsidiary’s, search engine’s, or cloud service provider’s 21 control. This subsection shall not apply if the internet 22 service provider, affiliate, subsidiary, search engine, or 23 cloud service provider was responsible for the creation of the 24 content pornographic for minors. 25 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 554J.4 Enforcement and penalties. 26 1. The attorney general shall enforce this chapter, seek 27 injunctions for violations of this chapter, and bring actions 28 against a person thought to be in violation of this chapter. 29 2. Each time an individual accesses an internet site 30 or application not in compliance with this chapter shall 31 constitute a separate violation. 32 3. a. A violation of this chapter is punishable by a civil 33 penalty of up to one thousand dollars per violation. A person 34 in violation of this section shall not accrue civil penalties 35 -3- LSB 6188YH (3) 91 dg/jh 3/ 5
H.F. 2274 of more than ten thousand dollars in a single day. 1 b. Civil penalties collected under this section shall be 2 deposited into the general fund of the state. 3 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 554J.5 Rules. 4 The attorney general shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 5 17A to implement and administer this chapter. 6 EXPLANATION 7 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 8 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 9 This bill requires persons who operate certain internet 10 sites (sites), applications (apps), or a segment of a site or 11 an app to perform reasonable age verification. 12 The bill defines “application”, “commercial entity”, 13 “digital identification”, “minor”, “mobile device”, 14 “news-gathering organization”, “pornographic for minors”, 15 “substantial portion”, and “transactional data”. 16 The bill prohibits a person from operating a site, an app, 17 or a segment of a site or an app, including on a social media 18 platform, that contains a substantial portion of content 19 pornographic for minors unless the person uses reasonable age 20 verification to prevent minors from accessing the content 21 pornographic for minors. Reasonable age verification includes 22 requiring an individual to provide digital identification; a 23 method that is commercially reasonable given the person’s scope 24 of business and that relies on transactional data to verify an 25 individual’s age; or a method approved by the attorney general 26 by rule. 27 The bill prohibits a person that performs reasonable age 28 verification under the bill, including a third party that 29 contracts with a person to perform reasonable age verification 30 for the person, from retaining any identifying information of 31 an individual subject to reasonable age verification unless 32 retention of the identifying information is required by law or 33 a court order. 34 The bill requires a person that performs reasonable age 35 -4- LSB 6188YH (3) 91 dg/jh 4/ 5
H.F. 2274 verification under the bill, including a third party that 1 contracts with a person to perform reasonable age verification 2 for the person, to use reasonable methods given the person’s 3 scope of business to secure all data collected and transmitted 4 under the bill. 5 The bill lists certain entities and situations to which the 6 bill does not apply. 7 The bill requires the attorney general to enforce the bill, 8 seek injunctions for violations of the bill, and bring actions 9 against a person thought to be in violation of the bill. Each 10 time an individual accesses a site or application not in 11 compliance with the bill constitutes a separate violation. A 12 violation of the bill is punishable by a civil penalty of up 13 to $1,000 per violation. A person in violation of the bill 14 shall not accrue civil penalties of more than $10,000 in a 15 single day. Civil penalties collected under the bill shall be 16 deposited into the general fund of the state. 17 The bill requires the attorney general to adopt rules to 18 implement and administer the bill. 19 -5- LSB 6188YH (3) 91 dg/jh 5/ 5