Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S1/30/23 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 66 3
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By: Senators Dees, J. Petty, J. Bryant 5
By: Representatives McAlindon, Bentley, K. Brown, C. Cooper, Crawford, Haak, Long, Lundstrum, 6
McGrew, Rose 7
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For An Act To Be Entitled 9
AN ACT CONCERNING MA TERIAL HARMFUL TO MI NORS; TO 10
CREATE THE PROTECTIO N OF MINORS FROM DIS TRIBUTION OF 11
HARMFUL MATERIAL ACT ; TO ESTABLISH LIABI LITY FOR THE 12
PUBLICATION OR DISTR IBUTION OF MATERIAL HARMFUL TO 13
MINORS ON THE INTERN ET; TO IMPOSE DUTIES ON 14
PUBLISHERS AND DISTRIBUTOR S OF MATERIAL HARMFU L TO 15
MINORS; TO REQUIRE R EASONABLE AGE VERIFI CATION; TO 16
PROVIDE FOR INDIVIDU AL RIGHTS OF ACTION; TO ALLOW FOR 17
ATTORNEY'S FEES, COU RT COSTS, AND PUNITI VE DAMAGES; 18
AND FOR OTHER PURPOS ES. 19
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Subtitle 22
TO CREATE THE PROTECTION OF MINORS FROM 23
DISTRIBUTION OF HARMFUL MATERIAL ACT; TO 24
ESTABLISH LIABILITY FOR THE PUBLICATION 25
OR DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL HARMFUL TO 26
MINORS ON THE INTERNET; AND TO REQUIRE 27
REASONABLE AGE VERIFICATION. 28
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 31
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 4, Chapter 88, is amended to add an 33
additional subchapter to read as follows: 34
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Subchapter 11 — Protection of Minors from Distribution of Harmful Material 36 As Engrossed: S1/30/23 SB66
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Act 1
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4-88-1101. Title. 3
This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Protection of 4
Minors from Distribution of Harmful Material Act". 5
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4-88-1102. Legislative findings and intent. 7
(a) The General Assembly finds that: 8
(1) Pornography is creating a public health crisis and is a 9
corroding influence on minors; 10
(2) Due to advances in technology, the widespread availability 11
of the internet, and limited age verification requirements, minors are 12
exposed to pornography at too early of an age; 13
(3) Pornography contributes to the hyper -sexualization of 14
minors; and 15
(4) Pornography may: 16
(A) Lead to: 17
(i) Low self-esteem; 18
(ii) Body image disorders; 19
(iii) An increase in problematic sexual activity at 20
younger ages; 21
(iv) Increased desire among minors to engage in 22
risky sexual behavior; and 23
(v) Difficulty in forming or maintaining positive, 24
intimate relationships; 25
(B) Impact brain development and function; 26
(C) Contribute to emotional and medical illnesses; 27
(D) Shape deviant sexual arousal; and 28
(E) Promote problematic or harmful sexual behaviors and 29
addiction. 30
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide a civil remedy 31
for damages against commercial entities that distribute material harmful to 32
minors. 33
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4-88-1103. Definitions. 35
As used in this subchapter: 36 As Engrossed: S1/30/23 SB66
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(1) "Commercial entity" means a corporation, limited liability 1
company, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship, or other 2
legally recognized entity; 3
(2) "Digitized identification card" means a data file available 4
on a mobile device that has connectivity to the internet through a state -5
approved application that allows the mobile device to download the data file 6
from the Office of Driver Services that contains all of the data elements 7
visible on the face and back of a l icense or identification card and displays 8
the current status of the license or identification card, including valid, 9
expired, cancelled, suspended, revoked, active, or inactive; 10
(3) "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, 11
transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any means; 12
(4) "Internet" means the international computer network of both 13
federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks; 14
(5) "Material harmful to minors" means: 15
(A) Any material that th e average person, applying 16
contemporary community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole 17
and with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to, or is designed to 18
pander to, prurient interest; 19
(B) Any of the following material that exploit s, is 20
devoted to, or principally consists of descriptions of actual, simulated, or 21
animated displays or depictions of any of the following, in a manner patently 22
offensive with respect to minors: 23
(i) Nipple of the female breast, pubic hair, anus, 24
vulva, or genitals; 25
(ii) Touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, 26
breasts, buttocks, the anus, or genitals; or 27
(iii) Sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, 28
bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, exhibitions 29
of sexual acts, or any other sexual act; or 30
(C) The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, 31
artistic, political, or scientific value for minors; 32
(6) "Minor" means an individual under eighteen (18) years of 33
age; 34
(7) "News-gathering organization" mea ns: 35
(A) An employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news 36 As Engrossed: S1/30/23 SB66
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source, printed or published on an online or mobile platform, of current news 1
and public interest, while operating as an employee of a news -gathering 2
organization, who can provide documentat ion of the employment with the 3
newspaper, news publication, or news source; or 4
(B) An employee of a radio broadcast station, television 5
broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service while operating 6
as an employee of a news -gathering organization, who can provide 7
documentation of the employment; 8
(8) "Publish" means to communicate or make information available 9
to another person or entity on a publicly available website; 10
(9) "Reasonable age verification" means to confirm that a person 11
seeking to access published material that may have a substantial portion of 12
material that may be harmful to minors is at least eighteen (18) years of 13
age; 14
(10) "Substantial portion" means more than thirty -three and one-15
third percent (33.33%) of total m aterial on a website that may be material 16
harmful to minors; and 17
(11)(A) "Transactional data" means a sequence of information 18
that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between an individual, 19
commercial entity, or a third party used for the purp ose of satisfying a 20
request or event. 21
(B) "Transactional data" includes without limitation 22
records from mortgage, education, and employment entities. 23
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4-88-1104. Reasonable age verification methods. 25
(a) A commercial entity shall use a reasonable age verification method 26
before allowing access to a website that contains a substantial portion of 27
material that may be harmful to minors. 28
(b) Reasonable age verification methods under subsection (a) of this 29
section include providing: 30
(1) A digitized identification card, including a digital copy 31
of a driver's license under § 27 -16-601 et seq.; 32
(2) Government-issued identification; or 33
(3) Any commercially reasonable age verification method. 34
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4-88-1105. Liability for publishers and distributors of material 36 As Engrossed: S1/30/23 SB66
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harmful to minors. 1
(a)(1) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes 2
or distributes material that may be harmful to minors on the internet from a 3
website that contains a substantial portion of material that may be harmful 4
to minors is liable if the commercial entity fails to perform reasonable age 5
verification to verify the age of the individual attempting to access the 6
material. 7
(2) If a commercial entity or third party performs a reasonable 8
age verification, the commer cial entity shall not retain any identifying 9
information of the individual after access to the material has been granted. 10
(b) A commercial entity that violates this subchapter is liable to an 11
individual for damages resulting from a minor accessing the ma terial harmful 12
to minors, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees as ordered by 13
the court. 14
(c) A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly retained 15
identifying information of an individual after access to the material has 16
been granted is liable to the individual for damages resulting from retaining 17
the identifying information, including court costs and reasonable attorney's 18
fees as ordered by the court. 19
(d) This section does not: 20
(1) Apply to a news or public interest broadcast, website video, 21
report, or event; or 22
(2) Affect the rights of a news -gathering organization. 23
(e) An internet service provider, or any of its affiliates or 24
subsidiaries, search engines, or cloud service providers shall not violate 25
this subchapter solely by providing access or connection to or from a website 26
or other information or content on the internet or a facility, system, or 27
network that is not under that internet service provider's control, including 28
transmission, downloading, intermediate storage, access software, or other 29
service that provides access or connectivity, to the extent the internet 30
service provider is not responsible for the creation of the content or the 31
communication that constitutes material that may be harmful to minors. 32
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/s/Dees 34
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