House File 2051 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2051 BY SHIPLEY A BILL FOR An Act relating to obscene material available on devices 1 and imposing civil liability on entities who publish or 2 distribute obscene material on the internet. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5235HH (2) 90 cm/jh
H.F. 2051 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 554H.1 Publication and distribution 1 of obscene material to minors on the internet. 2 1. For purposes of this chapter: 3 a. Interactive computer service means the same as that 4 term is defined in 47 U.S.C. 230. 5 b. Obscene material means the same as defined in section 6 728.1, subsection 5. 7 2. Social media platform means an internet search engine, 8 internet website, internet system, access software provider, 9 or application that is open to the public, allows a user 10 of the platform to create an account, and enables users to 11 communicate with one another for the primary purpose of posting 12 information, comments, messages, or images. Social media 13 platform does not include any of the following: 14 a. An internet service provider. 15 b. Electronic mail. 16 c. An online service, application, or website that consists 17 primarily of news, sports, entertainment, or other information 18 or content that is not user generated but is preselected by 19 the provider and for which any chat, comments, or interactive 20 functionality is incidental to, directly related to, or 21 dependent on the content. 22 3. Any commercial entity or social media platform that 23 knowingly or intentionally publishes or distributes obscene 24 material to minors on the internet from a website that contains 25 such material shall verify that any person attempting to access 26 obscene material is not a minor through the use of any of the 27 following: 28 a. A commercially available database that is regularly used 29 by businesses or governmental entities for the purpose of age 30 and identity verification 31 b. Another commercially reasonable method of age and 32 identity verification. 33 4. Any commercial entity or social media platform that 34 violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to 35 -1- LSB 5235HH (2) 90 cm/jh 1/ 2
H.F. 2051 civil liability for damages resulting from a minors access to 1 obscene material and reasonable attorney fees and costs. 2 5. This section shall not be construed to impose civil 3 liability on a provider or user of an interactive computer 4 service on the internet. 5 EXPLANATION 6 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 7 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 8 This bill creates civil liability for commercial entities 9 and social media platforms who publish or distribute material 10 harmful to minors on the internet. The bill provides any 11 commercial entity or social media platform that knowingly 12 or intentionally publishes or distributes obscene material 13 to minors on the internet from a website that contains such 14 material shall be held civilly liable if the entity fails to 15 perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the 16 age of individuals attempting to access the material. Any 17 commercial entity or social media platform that is found in 18 violation shall be civilly liable to an individual for damages 19 resulting from a minors accessing the material, including 20 court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the 21 court. The bill does not impose civil liability on a provider 22 or user of an interactive computer service on the internet. 23 -2- LSB 5235HH (2) 90 cm/jh 2/ 2