Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1181 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.B. No. 1181
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the publication or distribution of sexual material
6	6	harmful to minors on an Internet website; providing a civil
7	7	penalty.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Title 6, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
10	10	amended by adding Chapter 129B to read as follows:
11	11	CHAPTER 129B. LIABILITY FOR ALLOWING MINORS TO ACCESS PORNOGRAPHIC
12	12	MATERIAL
13	13	Sec. 129B.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
14	14	(1) "Commercial entity" includes a corporation,
15	15	limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole
16	16	proprietorship, or other legally recognized business entity.
17	17	(2) "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide,
18	18	deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any
19	19	means.
20	20	(3) "Minor" means an individual younger than 18 years
21	21	of age.
22	22	(4) "News-gathering organization" includes:
23	23	(A) an employee of a newspaper, news publication,
24	24	or news source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of
25	25	current news and public interest, who is acting within the course
26	26	and scope of that employment and can provide documentation of that
27	27	employment with the newspaper, news publication, or news source;
28	28	and
29	29	(B) an employee of a radio broadcast station,
30	30	television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire
31	31	service who is acting within the course and scope of that employment
32	32	and can provide documentation of that employment.
33	33	(5) "Publish" means to communicate or make information
34	34	available to another person or entity on a publicly available
35	35	Internet website.
36	36	(6) "Sexual material harmful to minors" includes any
37	37	material that:
38	38	(A) the average person applying contemporary
39	39	community standards would find, taking the material as a whole and
40	40	with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to or pander to the
41	41	prurient interest;
42	42	(B) in a manner patently offensive with respect
43	43	to minors, exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of
44	44	descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated displays or
45	45	depictions of:
46	46	(i) a person's pubic hair, anus, or genitals
47	47	or the nipple of the female breast;
48	48	(ii) touching, caressing, or fondling of
49	49	nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or
50	50	(iii) sexual intercourse, masturbation,
51	51	sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory
52	52	functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act; and
53	53	(C) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary,
54	54	artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
55	55	(7) "Transactional data" means a sequence of
56	56	information that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer
57	57	between an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for
58	58	the purpose of satisfying a request or event. The term includes
59	59	records from mortgage, education, and employment entities.
60	60	Sec. 129B.002. PUBLICATION OF MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS.
61	61	(a) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes
62	62	or distributes material on an Internet website, including a social
63	63	media platform, more than one-third of which is sexual material
64	64	harmful to minors, shall use reasonable age verification methods as
65	65	described by Section 129B.003 to verify that an individual
66	66	attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older.
67	67	(b) A commercial entity that performs the age verification
68	68	required by Subsection (a) or a third party that performs the age
69	69	verification required by Subsection (a) may not retain any
70	70	identifying information of the individual.
71	71	Sec. 129B.003. REASONABLE AGE VERIFICATION METHODS. (a)
72	72	In this section, "digital identification" means information stored
73	73	on a digital network that may be accessed by a commercial entity and
74	74	that serves as proof of the identity of an individual.
75	75	(b) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
76	76	publishes or distributes material on an Internet website or a third
77	77	party that performs age verification under this chapter shall
78	78	require an individual to:
79	79	(1) provide digital identification; or
80	80	(2) comply with a commercial age verification system
81	81	that verifies age using:
82	82	(A) government-issued identification; or
83	83	(B) a commercially reasonable method that relies
84	84	on public or private transactional data to verify the age of an
85	85	individual.
86	86	Sec. 129B.004. SEXUAL MATERIALS HEALTH WARNINGS. A
87	87	commercial entity required to use reasonable age verification
88	88	methods under Section 129B.002(a) shall:
89	89	(1) display the following notices on the landing page
90	90	of the Internet website on which sexual material harmful to minors
91	91	is published or distributed and all advertisements for that
92	92	Internet website in 14-point font or larger:
93	93	"TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Pornography
94	94	is potentially biologically addictive, is proven to harm human
95	95	brain development, desensitizes brain reward circuits, increases
96	96	conditioned responses, and weakens brain function."
97	97	"TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Exposure to
98	98	this content is associated with low self-esteem and body image,
99	99	eating disorders, impaired brain development, and other emotional
100	100	and mental illnesses."
101	101	"TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Pornography
102	102	increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation, and
103	103	child pornography."; and
104	104	(2) display the following notice at the bottom of
105	105	every page of the Internet website in 14-point font or larger:
106	106	"U.S. SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
107	107	HELPLINE:
108	108	1-800-662-HELP (4357)
109	109	THIS HELPLINE IS A FREE, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION SERVICE (IN
110	110	ENGLISH OR SPANISH) OPEN 24 HOURS PER DAY, FOR INDIVIDUALS AND
111	111	FAMILY MEMBERS FACING MENTAL HEALTH OR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS.
112	112	THE SERVICE PROVIDES REFERRAL TO LOCAL TREATMENT FACILITIES,
113	113	SUPPORT GROUPS, AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS."
114	114	Sec. 129B.005. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. (a) This chapter
115	115	does not apply to a bona fide news or public interest broadcast,
116	116	website video, report, or event and may not be construed to affect
117	117	the rights of a news-gathering organization.
118	118	(b) An Internet service provider, or its affiliates or
119	119	subsidiaries, a search engine, or a cloud service provider may not
120	120	be held to have violated this chapter solely for providing access or
121	121	connection to or from a website or other information or content on
122	122	the Internet or on a facility, system, or network not under that
123	123	provider's control, including transmission, downloading,
124	124	intermediate storage, access software, or other services to the
125	125	extent the provider or search engine is not responsible for the
126	126	creation of the content that constitutes sexual material harmful to
127	127	minors.
128	128	Sec. 129B.006. CIVIL PENALTY; INJUNCTION. (a) If the
129	129	attorney general believes that an entity is knowingly violating or
130	130	has knowingly violated this chapter and the action is in the public
131	131	interest, the attorney general may bring an action in a Travis
132	132	County district court or the district court in the county in which
133	133	the principal place of business of the entity is located in this
134	134	state to enjoin the violation, recover a civil penalty, and obtain
135	135	other relief the court considers appropriate.
136	136	(b) A civil penalty imposed under this section for a
137	137	violation of Section 129B.002 or 129B.003 may be in an amount equal
138	138	to not more than the total, if applicable, of:
139	139	(1) $10,000 per day that the entity operates an
140	140	Internet website in violation of the age verification requirements
141	141	of this chapter;
142	142	(2) $10,000 per instance when the entity retains
143	143	identifying information in violation of Section 129B.002(b); and
144	144	(3) if, because of the entity's violation of the age
145	145	verification requirements of this chapter, one or more minors
146	146	accesses sexual material harmful to minors, an additional amount of
147	147	not more than $250,000.
148	148	(c) The amount of a civil penalty under this section shall
149	149	be based on:
150	150	(1) the seriousness of the violation, including the
151	151	nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation;
152	152	(2) the history of previous violations;
153	153	(3) the amount necessary to deter a future violation;
154	154	(4) the economic effect of a penalty on the entity on
155	155	whom the penalty will be imposed;
156	156	(5) the entity's knowledge that the act constituted a
157	157	violation of this chapter; and
158	158	(6) any other matter that justice may require.
159	159	(d) The attorney general may recover reasonable and
160	160	necessary attorney's fees and costs incurred in an action under
161	161	this section.
162	162	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
163	163	______________________________ ______________________________
164	164	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
165	165	I certify that H.B. No. 1181 was passed by the House on May 9,
166	166	2023, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 2 present, not
167	167	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
168	168	No. 1181 on May 25, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 1,
169	169	2 present, not voting.
170	170	______________________________
171	171	Chief Clerk of the House
172	172	I certify that H.B. No. 1181 was passed by the Senate, with
173	173	amendments, on May 19, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
174	174	0.
175	175	______________________________
176	176	Secretary of the Senate
177	177	APPROVED: __________________
178	178	Date
179	179	__________________
180	180	Governor