By: Hughes S.B. No. 1860
(In the Senate - Filed March 4, 2025; March 17, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 7, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10,
Nays 0; April 7, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the applicability of laws protecting minors from
harmful material on digital services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 509.002(b), Business & Commerce Code, as
added by Chapter 795 (H.B. 18), Acts of the 88th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2023, is amended to read as follows:
(b) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a state agency or a political subdivision of this
state;
(2) a financial institution or data subject to Title
V, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. Section 6801 et seq.);
(3) a covered entity or business associate governed by
the privacy, security, and breach notification rules issued by the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, 45 C.F.R.
Parts 160 and 164, established under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d
et seq.), and the Health Information Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health Act (Division A, Title XIII, and Division B, Title
IV, Pub. L. No. 111-5);
(4) a small business as defined by the United States
Small Business Administration on September 1, 2024;
(5) an institution of higher education or a private
school, as that term is defined by Section 5.001, Education Code;
(6) a digital service provider who processes or
maintains user data in connection with the employment, promotion,
reassignment, or retention of the user as an employee or
independent contractor, to the extent that the user's data is
processed or maintained for that purpose;
(7) an operator or provider regulated by Subchapter D,
Chapter 32, Education Code, that primarily provides education
services to students or educational institutions;
(8) a person subject to the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g) that:
(A) operates a digital service; and
(B) primarily provides education services to
students or educational institutions;
(9) a digital service provider's provision of a
digital service that facilitates e-mail or direct messaging
services, if the digital service facilitates only those services;
or
(10) a digital service provider's provision of a
digital service that:
(A) primarily functions to provide a user with
access to news, sports, commerce, or content primarily generated or
selected by the digital service provider; and
(B) allows chat, comment, or other interactive
functionality that is incidental to the digital service.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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