Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2164 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R8319 SHH-D
2	2	By: Hughes S.B. No. 2164
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to restricting access to sexual material harmful to minors
8	8	on an Internet website.
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 fees as
80	80	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
83	83	third party that performs the age verification required by
84	84	Subsection (a) that is found to have knowingly retained identifying
85	85	information of an individual after access has been granted to the
86	86	individual is liable to the individual for damages resulting from
87	87	retaining the identifying information, including court costs and
88	88	reasonable attorney 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. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. (a) This
105	105	subchapter does not apply to a bona fide news or public interest
106	106	broadcast, website video, report, or event and may not be construed
107	107	to affect the rights of a news-gathering organization.
108	108	(b) An Internet service provider, or its affiliates or
109	109	subsidiaries, a search engine, or a cloud service provider may not
110	110	be held to have violated this subchapter solely for providing
111	111	access or connection to or from a website or other information or
112	112	content on the Internet or on a facility, system, or network not
113	113	under that provider's control, including transmission,
114	114	downloading, intermediate storage, access software, or other
115	115	services to the extent the provider or search engine is not
116	116	responsible for the creation of the content that constitutes sexual
117	117	material harmful to minors.
118	118	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.