Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2021 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Paxton, et al. S.B. No. 2021
2	2	(Schatzline, Ordaz, Schaefer, A. Johnson of Harris, et al.)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to requirements for certain Internet websites containing
8	8	sexual material harmful to minors; providing a civil penalty.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 120, Business & Commerce
11	11	Code, is amended to read as follows:
12	12	CHAPTER 120. SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND INTERNET WEBSITES
13	13	SECTION 2. Chapter 120, Business & Commerce Code, is
14	14	amended by adding Subchapter E to read as follows:
15	15	SUBCHAPTER E. SEXUAL MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS
16	16	Sec. 120.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
17	17	(1) "Commercial entity" includes a corporation,
18	18	limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole
19	19	proprietorship, or other legally recognized business entity.
20	20	(2) "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide,
21	21	deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any
22	22	means.
23	23	(3) "Minor" means an individual younger than 18 years
24	24	of age.
25	25	(4) "News-gathering organization" includes:
26	26	(A) an employee of a newspaper, news publication,
27	27	or news source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of
28	28	current news and public interest, who is acting within the course
29	29	and scope of that employment and can provide documentation of that
30	30	employment with the newspaper, news publication, or news source;
31	31	and
32	32	(B) an employee of a radio broadcast station,
33	33	television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire
34	34	service who is acting within the course and scope of that employment
35	35	and can provide documentation of that employment.
36	36	(5) "Publish" means to communicate or make information
37	37	available to another person or entity on a publicly available
38	38	Internet website.
39	39	(6) "Sexual material harmful to minors" includes any
40	40	material that:
41	41	(A) the average person, applying contemporary
42	42	community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and
43	43	with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to or pander to the
44	44	prurient interest;
45	45	(B) in a manner patently offensive with respect
46	46	to minors, exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of
47	47	descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction
48	48	of:
49	49	(i) a person's pubic hair, anus, or genitals
50	50	or the nipple of the female breast;
51	51	(ii) touching, caressing, or fondling of
52	52	nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or
53	53	(iii) sexual intercourse, masturbation,
54	54	sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory
55	55	functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act; and
56	56	(C) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary,
57	57	artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
58	58	(7) "Transactional data" means a sequence of
59	59	information that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer
60	60	between an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for
61	61	the purpose of satisfying a request or event. The term includes
62	62	records from mortgage, education, and employment entities.
63	63	Sec. 120.202. PUBLICATION OF MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS.
64	64	(a) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes
65	65	or distributes material on an Internet website, including a social
66	66	media platform, more than one-third of which is sexual material
67	67	harmful to minors, shall use reasonable age verification methods as
68	68	described by Section 120.203 to verify that an individual
69	69	attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older.
70	70	(b) A commercial entity that performs the age verification
71	71	required by Subsection (a) or a third party that performs the age
72	72	verification required by Subsection (a) may not retain any
73	73	identifying information of the individual after access has been
74	74	granted to the material.
75	75	(c) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
76	76	publishes or distributes material on an Internet website that is
77	77	found to have violated this section is liable to the parent or
78	78	guardian of the minor for damages resulting from a minor's access to
79	79	the material, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees
80	80	as ordered by the court.
81	81	(d) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
82	82	publishes or distributes material on an Internet website or a third
83	83	party that performs the age verification required by Subsection (a)
84	84	that is found to have knowingly retained identifying information of
85	85	an individual after access has been granted to the individual is
86	86	liable to the individual for damages resulting from retaining the
87	87	identifying information, including court costs and reasonable
88	88	attorney's fees as ordered by the court.
89	89	Sec. 120.203. REASONABLE AGE VERIFICATION METHODS. (a) In
90	90	this section, "digital identification" means information stored on
91	91	a digital network that may be accessed by a commercial entity and
92	92	that serves as proof of the identity of an individual.
93	93	(b) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
94	94	publishes or distributes material on an Internet website or a third
95	95	party that performs age verification under this subchapter shall
96	96	require an individual to:
97	97	(1) provide digital identification; or
98	98	(2) comply with a commercial age verification system
99	99	that verifies age using:
100	100	(A) government-issued identification; or
101	101	(B) a commercially reasonable method that relies
102	102	on public or private transactional data to verify the age of an
103	103	individual.
104	104	Sec. 120.204. SEXUAL MATERIALS HEALTH WARNINGS. A
105	105	commercial entity required to use reasonable age verification
106	106	methods under Section 120.202(a) shall:
107	107	(1) display the following notices on the landing page
108	108	of the Internet website and all advertisements for the Internet
109	109	website in 14-point font or larger:
110	110	"TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Pornography
111	111	is potentially biologically addictive, is proven to harm human
112	112	brain development, desensitizes brain reward circuits, increases
113	113	conditioned responses, and weakens brain function."
114	114	"TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Exposure to
115	115	this content is associated with low self-esteem and body image,
116	116	eating disorders, impaired brain development, and other emotional
117	117	and mental illnesses."
118	118	"TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Pornography
119	119	increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation, and
120	120	child pornography."; and
121	121	(2) display the following notice at the bottom of
122	122	every page of the Internet website in 14-point font or larger:
123	123	"U.S. SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
124	124	HELPLINE:
125	125	1-800-662-HELP (4357)
126	126	THIS HELPLINE IS A FREE, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION SERVICE (IN
127	127	ENGLISH OR SPANISH) OPEN 24 HOURS PER DAY, FOR INDIVIDUALS AND
128	128	FAMILY MEMBERS FACING MENTAL HEALTH OR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS.
129	129	THE SERVICE PROVIDES REFERRAL TO LOCAL TREATMENT FACILITIES,
130	130	SUPPORT GROUPS, AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS."
131	131	Sec. 120.205. ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL; CIVIL
132	132	PENALTY. (a) A commercial entity who violates this subchapter is
133	133	liable to this state for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed
134	134	$30,000 for each violation.
135	135	(b) The attorney general may bring an action in the name of
136	136	the state to recover a civil penalty under this section. The
137	137	attorney general may recover attorney's fees and costs incurred in
138	138	bringing an action under this section.
139	139	(c) The action may be brought in a district court in:
140	140	(1) Travis County; or
141	141	(2) a county in which any part of the violation or
142	142	threatened violation occurs.
143	143	(d) The attorney general shall deposit a civil penalty
144	144	collected under this section in the state treasury to the credit of
145	145	the general revenue fund.
146	146	Sec. 120.206. CIVIL ACTION AGAINST COMMERCIAL ENTITY. (a)
147	147	A parent or guardian of a minor who accesses sexual material harmful
148	148	to minors due to the violation of this subchapter by a commercial
149	149	entity may bring a civil action against the commercial entity.
150	150	(b) A parent or guardian who brings an action under this
151	151	section shall provide written notice of the action to the attorney
152	152	general.
153	153	(c) Notwithstanding Sections 41.003 and 41.004, Civil
154	154	Practice and Remedies Code, a parent or guardian who prevails in an
155	155	action under this section is entitled to recover:
156	156	(1) damages in the amount of $10,000;
157	157	(2) court costs; and
158	158	(3) attorney's fees.
159	159	(d) A court may certify an action brought against a
160	160	commercial entity under this section as a class action.
161	161	Sec. 120.207. OTHER ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. (a) In
162	162	addition to collecting the penalty under Section 120.205, the
163	163	attorney general may bring a civil action to enjoin a commercial
164	164	entity from further violating this subchapter.
165	165	(b) The attorney general may join an action for which the
166	166	attorney general receives notice under Section 120.206(b).
167	167	(c) The court shall permit the attorney general to join an
168	168	action in accordance with Subsection (b) not later than the 30th day
169	169	after the date the attorney general receives notice of the action.
170	170	(d) If the attorney general joins an action in accordance
171	171	with Subsection (b), the attorney general may seek the remedies
172	172	provided under Subsection (a) and Section 120.205.
173	173	Sec. 120.208. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. (a) This
174	174	subchapter does not apply to a bona fide news or public interest
175	175	broadcast, website video, report, or event and may not be construed
176	176	to affect the rights of a news-gathering organization.
177	177	(b) An Internet service provider, or its affiliates or
178	178	subsidiaries, a search engine, or a cloud service provider may not
179	179	be held to have violated this subchapter solely for providing
180	180	access or connection to or from a website or other information or
181	181	content on the Internet or on a facility, system, or network not
182	182	under that provider's control, including transmission,
183	183	downloading, intermediate storage, access software, or other
184	184	services to the extent the provider or search engine is not
185	185	responsible for the creation of the content that constitutes sexual
186	186	material harmful to minors.
187	187	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.