Protect Of Minors From Harmful Material
The bill imposes strict liabilities on commercial entities that fail to enforce reasonable age verification processes. If a commercial entity does not validate the age of users accessing a site with significant harmful content, it can be held liable for damages, court costs, and attorney fees. This legislative move signals an increased emphasis on protecting minors online and holding companies accountable for the content that minors may access. The law would likely lead to more stringent content moderation and age-checking protocols across digital platforms.
House Bill 44, known as the Protection of Minors from Distribution of Harmful Material Act, seeks to regulate the accessibility of harmful material to minors by commercial entities. The bill defines key terms, including what constitutes 'material harmful to minors,' which encompasses content appealing to prurient interests, sexual acts, and depictions that lack literary or scientific value for minors. The primary objective of the bill is to restrict children's access to explicit and potentially damaging content online, ensuring that commercial operators implement effective age verification methods before granting access to such material.
Notably, the bill does include exceptions, as it does not apply to newsgathering organizations or platforms serving public interest content, and it also relieves cloud and internet service providers from liability for content they do not create. These exceptions have generated discussion regarding the balance between protecting minors and preserving freedom of information. Critics may argue that while the protection of minors is crucial, the bill could also inadvertently stifle access to valuable educational content that may be categorized as harmful under the bill's definitions.