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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
SENATE BILL 1959 By: Alvord
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to consumer protection; defining
terms; allowing for damages to be sought under
certain conditions; prohibiting commercial entities
from distributing certain material without
verification; providing for lawful access to certain
material; preventing a commercial entity from being
held liable under certain conditions; prohibiting a
commercial entity from retaining individual’s
information; exempting certain providers; requiring
Attorney General to take certain action; authorizing
Attorney General to develop certain regulations;
providing for severability; providing for
codification; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791 of Title 15, unless there is
created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows :
As used in this act:
1. “Child pornography” means the same as used in Sectio n 1024.1
of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
2. “Child sexual exploitation ” means the same as used in
Section 843.5 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
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3. “Commercial entity” means a corporation, limited liability
company, partnership, limited partnership , sole proprietorship, or
other legally recognized entity;
4. “Digitized identification card” means a data file available
on any mobile device , which has connectivity to t he Internet,
through a state-approved application that allows the mo bile device
to download the data file from a state agency or any authori zed
agent of a state agency that contains all of the data elements
visible on the face an d back of a license or identification card and
displays the current state of the licensed or iden tification card;
5. “Distribute” means to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver,
transfer, transmit, circulate, or disseminate by any means ;
6. “Harmful to minors” means the same as terms defined in
Sections 1040.75 through 1040.77 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma
Statutes;
7. “Internet” means the international computer network of bo th
federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks;
8. “Minor” means any person eighteen (18) years of age or
younger;
9. “News-gathering organization ” means any of the following:
a. an employee of 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 as provided in this subsection, wh o can
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provide documentation of such employment with the
newspaper, news public ation, or news source, or
b. an employee of a radio broadcast stat ion, television
broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire
service while operating as a n employee as provided in
this subsection, who can provide documentation of such
employment;
10. “Obscene material” means the same as used in Section 1024.1
of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Stat utes;
11. “Publish” means to communicate or make informa tion
available to another person or entity on a publicly available
Internet website;
12. “Reasonable age verification methods” means verifying that
the person seeking access to the available material is eightee n (18)
years of age or older by using the following methods:
a. use of a digitized identification card as defined in
this section,
b. verification through an inde pendent, third-party age
verification service that compares the personal
information entered by the individual who is seeking
access to the material that is available from a
commercially available database, or aggregate of
databases, that is regularly used b y government
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agencies and businesses for purpose of age and
identity verification, or
c. any commercially reasonable method that relies on
public or private transactional data to verify the age
of the person attempting to access the materia l;
13. “Substantial portion” means when more than a third of the
total material available on the website meets the definition of
material harmful to minors as defined in this section; and
14. “Transactional data” means a sequence of information that
documents as exchange, agreemen t, or transfer between an individual,
commercial entity, or a third party used for t he purpose of
satisfying a request or event. Transactional data ma y include, but
not be limited to, records from mortgage, education, and employment
entities.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.1 of Title 15, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. Any commercial entity that knowingly and i ntentionally
publishes or distributes obscene m aterial, or material that depicts
or promotes child pornography or child se xual exploitation, on the
Internet may be held liable to an individual for nominal damages,
actual damages, court costs, and re asonable attorney fees as ordered
by the court.
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B. A commercial entity that has violate d this act in a manner
that satisfies standards for imposition of punitive damages
elsewhere provided by law may be held liable to an individual for
punitive damages.
C. Individual claims that satisfy the generally applicable
standards for joinder or class action elsewhere provided by law or
rules of court, as applicable, may combine their claims in a single
action.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to b e codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.2 of Title 15, unless there
is created a duplication i n numbering, reads as follows:
A. Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
publishes or distribut es material harmful to minors on the Internet
from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material
shall provide Internet service subscribers and cellular service
subscribers the opportunity, before any individual using such
services may access the material, to request that acces s to the
material by subscription service be denied.
B. Upon such request by an Internet service subscriber or
cellular service subscr iber, a commercial entity shall, without
charge, block access to its website on any device seeking to access
its website using the subscriber’s Internet service or c ellular
service subscription so that a minor does no t receive material
harmful to minors via that subscription.
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C. A commercial entity that fails to provi de Internet service
subscribers or cellu lar service subscribers an opportunity to
request that access to the commercial entity’s website be blocked is
in violation of this act and may be held liable to the minor, by and
through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for nominal damages,
actual damages, court costs, and re asonable attorney fees a s ordered
by the court.
D. A commercial entity that, after receipt of such reque st to
block access, allows a minor to access material harmful to min ors on
its website is in violation of this act and may be held liable to
the minor, by and through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for
actual damages, court costs, and reaso nable attorney fees as ordered
by the court.
E. A commercial entity that has violat ed this act in a manner
that satisfies the standards for imposition of punitive damages
elsewhere provided by law may be held liable to the minor, by and
through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for punitive damages.
F. Individual claims that satisfy the generally applicable
standards for joinder or clas s action elsewhere provided by law or
rules of court, as applicable, may co mbine their claims in a single
action.
G. A commercial entity shall not be held liable for allowing
access to its website if the entity performs reasonable age
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verification methods to verify that the individual attempting to
access the material from its website is not a minor.
H. A commercial entity or third party that performs reasonable
age verification methods shall not retain any ide ntifying
information of the individual after access has b een granted to the
material.
I. A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly retained
identifying information of the individual , except as is reasonably
necessary to effectuate a block request under this section, shall be
liable to the individual for damages resulting from re taining the
identifying information, including co urt costs and reasonable
attorney fees as ordered by the court.
J. This section shall not apply to any bona fide news or public
interest broadcast, website video, report, or event and shall not be
construed to affect the r ights of a news-gathering organization ,
unless the organization ’s website contains a substantial portion of
material harmful to minors.
K. No Internet service provider, affiliate or subsidiary of an
Internet service provider, search engine, or cloud service provider
shall be held to have violated the provisions of thi s section solely
for providing access or connection to or from a we bsite or other
information or content on the Internet , or a facility, system, or
network not under the provi der’s control, including transmission,
downloading, storing, or providing acces s, to the extent that such
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provider is not responsible for the creation of the content o f the
communication that constitutes obscene material or material h armful
to minors.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.3 of Title 15, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Attorney General may seek injunctive and other equitable
relief against a commercial entity that fails to c omply with the
provisions of this act.
B. The Attorney General is authorized and directed to develop
and publish, consistent with the provisions of this act, guidance or
regulations as appropriate to assi st commercial entities to comply
with this act.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 791.4 of Title 15, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
If any one or more provisions, sections, subsections, s entences,
clauses, phrases, or words of this act or the application there of to
any person or circumstance is found to be unconstitutional, the same
is hereby declared to be severable and the balance of this act shall
remain effective notwithstanding such un constitutionality. The
Legislature hereby declares that i t would have this act, and each
provision, section, subsection, s entence, clause, phrase, or wor d
thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more provisions ,
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sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words be
declared unconstitutional.
SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 202 4.
59-2-3007 MR 1/18/2024 1:18:08 PM