Bill Text: IA HF489 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to civil liability for commercial entities who publish or distribute material harmful to minors on the internet, and providing penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-28 - Introduced, referred to Public Safety. H.J. 439. [HF489 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2023-HF489-Introduced.html
House
File
489
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
489
BY
HAYES
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
civil
liability
for
commercial
entities
who
1
publish
or
distribute
material
harmful
to
minors
on
the
2
internet,
and
providing
penalties.
3
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
4
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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