Assigned to JUDE FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1341
harmful website content; age verification
Purpose
Subjects a commercial entity to civil liability for damages if the entity intentionally or
knowingly publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet without performing
a reasonable age verification.
Background
It is unlawful for any person, with knowledge of the character of the item in question, to:
1) recklessly furnish, present, provide, make available, give, lend, show, advertise or distribute to
a minor any physical item that is harmful to minors; or 2) intentionally or knowingly transmit or
send a minor an item that is harmful to minors by means of electronic mail, personal messaging or
any other direct internet communication when the person knows, or believes at the time, that a
minor will receive the item, except when posting material on an internet web site, bulletin board
or newsgroup or sending material via mailing list or listserv that is not administered by the sender.
A violation of either offense is a class 4 felony and a failure to report a violation is a class 6 felony
(A.R.S. ยงยง 13-3506 and 13-3506.01).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Subjects a commercial entity to civil liability for damages if the commercial entity intentionally
or knowingly publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet from a website
that consists of a substantial portion of harmful material, if the commercial entity does not
perform a reasonable age verification method to verify the age of the individual accessing the
material.
2. Defines substantial portion to mean more than 33.33 percent of the total material on the
internet website is material harmful to minors.
3. Defines a reasonable age verification method as a process to verify that an individual seeking
to access the material harmful to minors is 18 years old or older by:
a) verification through an independent, third-party age verification service that:
i. compares the personal information entered by an individual that is available from a
commercially available database or aggregate of databases; and
ii. is regularly used by government agencies and businesses to verify an individual's age
and identity; or
b) any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to
verify the age of an individual.
4. Prohibits a commercial entity or third party that performs a required age verification from
retaining any of the individual's identifying information after access is granted to the material
harmful to minors. FACT SHEET
S.B. 1341
Page 2
5. Specifies that a commercial entity that violates the requirement to perform a reasonable age
verification check is liable to an individual for the damages resulting from a minor accessing
material harmful to minors, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
6. Specifies that a commercial entity or third party that knowingly retains a person's identifying
information is liable to the individual for damages resulting from the retention, including court
costs and reasonable attorney fees.
7. Stipulates that the prohibition against providing material harmful to minors does not:
a) apply to a bona fide news or public internet broadcast, website video report or event; or
b) affect the rights of a news gathering organization.
8. Stipulates that an internet service provider, affiliate or subsidiary of an internet service
provider, search engine or cloud service provider does not violate the prescribed prohibition
by solely providing access or connection to or from a website or other information or content
on the internet, or a facility, system or network not under that provider's control, including
transmission, downloading, storing or providing access, to the extent that the provider is not
responsible for the creation of the content of the communication that constitutes material
harmful to minors.
9. Defines harmful to minors as any material that:
a) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taking the
material as a whole and with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to, or is designed to
pander to, the prurient interest;
b) when taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for
minors; and
c) exploits, is devoted to or principally consists of descriptions of actual, simulated or
animated display or depiction of any of the following, in a manner patently offensive with
respect to minors:
i. pubic hair, an anus, a vulva, genitals or a female breast's nipple;
ii. touching, caressing or fondling of nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses or genitals; or
iii. sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation,
excretory functions, exhibitions or any other sexual act.
10. Defines a news-gathering organization as an employee of:
a) a newspaper, news publication or news source, printed or on an online or mobile platform,
of current news and public interest, while operating as an employee who can provide
documentation of the employment; or
b) a radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable television operator or wire
service while operating as an employee who can provide documentation of the
employment.
11. Defines other relevant terms.
12. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 7, 2025
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