| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 737 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To require certain interactive computer services to adopt and operate tech- |
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| 6 | 6 | | nology verification measures to ensure that users of the platform are |
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| 7 | 7 | | not minors, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY26, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. L |
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| 11 | 11 | | EE(for himself, Mr. CURTIS, and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following |
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| 12 | 12 | | bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, |
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| 13 | 13 | | Science, and Transportation |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To require certain interactive computer services to adopt |
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| 16 | 16 | | and operate technology verification measures to ensure |
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| 17 | 17 | | that users of the platform are not minors, and for other |
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| 18 | 18 | | purposes. |
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| 19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shielding Children’s 4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net Act’’ or the 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | ‘‘SCREEN Act’’. 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 7 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (a) F |
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| 27 | 27 | | INDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 8 |
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| 29 | 29 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 31 | 31 | | (1) Over the 3 decades preceding the date of 1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | enactment of this Act, Congress has passed several 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | bills to protect minors from access to online porno-3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | graphic content, including title V of the Tele-4 |
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| 35 | 35 | | communications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104) 5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (commonly known as the ‘‘Communications Decency 6 |
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| 37 | 37 | | Act’’), section 231 of the Communications Act of 7 |
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| 38 | 38 | | 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231) (commonly known as the 8 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘Child Online Protection Act’’), and the Children’s 9 |
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| 40 | 40 | | Internet Protection Act (title XVII of division B of 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | Public Law 106–554). 11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (2) With the exception of the Children’s Inter-12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | net Protection Act (title XVII of division B of Public 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | Law 106–554), the Supreme Court of the United 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | States has struck down the previous efforts of Con-15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | gress to shield children from pornographic content, 16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | finding that such legislation constituted a ‘‘compel-17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | ling government interest’’ but that it was not the 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | least restrictive means to achieve such interest. In 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | Ashcroft v. ACLU, 542 U.S. 656 (2004), the Court 20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | even suggested at the time that ‘‘blocking and fil-21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | tering software’’ could conceivably be a ‘‘primary al-22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | ternative’’ to the requirements passed by Congress. 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (3) In the nearly 2 decades since the Supreme 24 |
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| 55 | 55 | | Court of the United States suggested the use of 25 |
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| 57 | 57 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 59 | 59 | | ‘‘blocking and filtering software’’, such technology 1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | has proven to be ineffective in protecting minors 2 |
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| 61 | 61 | | from accessing online pornographic content. The 3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | Kaiser Family Foundation has found that filters do 4 |
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| 63 | 63 | | not work on 1 in 10 pornography sites accessed in-5 |
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| 64 | 64 | | tentionally and 1 in 3 pornography sites that are 6 |
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| 65 | 65 | | accessed unintentionally. Further, it has been proven 7 |
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| 66 | 66 | | that children are able to bypass ‘‘blocking and fil-8 |
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| 67 | 67 | | tering’’ software by employing strategic searches or 9 |
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| 68 | 68 | | measures to bypass the software completely. 10 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (4) Additionally, Pew Research has revealed 11 |
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| 70 | 70 | | studies showing that only 39 percent of parents use 12 |
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| 71 | 71 | | blocking or filtering software for their minor’s online 13 |
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| 72 | 72 | | activities, meaning that 61 percent of children only 14 |
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| 73 | 73 | | have restrictions on their internet access when they 15 |
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| 74 | 74 | | are at school or at a library. 16 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (5) 17 States have now recognized pornography 17 |
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| 76 | 76 | | as a public health hazard that leads to a broad 18 |
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| 77 | 77 | | range of individual harms, societal harms, and pub-19 |
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| 78 | 78 | | lic health impacts. 20 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (6) It is estimated that 80 percent of minors 21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | between the ages of 12 to 17 have been exposed to 22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | pornography, with 54 percent of teenagers seeking it 23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | out. The internet is the most common source for mi-24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | nors to access pornography with pornographic 25 |
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| 85 | 85 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 87 | 87 | | websites receiving more web traffic in the United 1 |
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| 88 | 88 | | States than Twitter, Netflix, Pinterest, and 2 |
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| 89 | 89 | | LinkedIn combined. 3 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (7) Exposure to online pornography has created 4 |
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| 91 | 91 | | unique psychological effects for minors, including 5 |
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| 92 | 92 | | anxiety, addiction, low self-esteem, body image dis-6 |
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| 93 | 93 | | orders, an increase in problematic sexual activity at 7 |
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| 94 | 94 | | younger ages, and an increased desire among minors 8 |
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| 95 | 95 | | to engage in risky sexual behavior. 9 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (8) The Supreme Court of the United States 10 |
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| 97 | 97 | | has recognized on multiple occasions that Congress 11 |
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| 98 | 98 | | has a ‘‘compelling government interest’’ to protect 12 |
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| 99 | 99 | | the physical and psychological well-being of minors, 13 |
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| 100 | 100 | | which includes shielding them from ‘‘indecent’’ con-14 |
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| 101 | 101 | | tent that may not necessarily be considered ‘‘ob-15 |
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| 102 | 102 | | scene’’ by adult standards. 16 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (9) Because ‘‘blocking and filtering software’’ 17 |
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| 104 | 104 | | has not produced the results envisioned nearly 2 dec-18 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ades ago, it is necessary for Congress to pursue al-19 |
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| 106 | 106 | | ternative policies to enable the protection of the 20 |
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| 107 | 107 | | physical and psychological well-being of minors. 21 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (10) The evolution of our technology has now 22 |
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| 109 | 109 | | enabled the use of age verification technology that is 23 |
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| 110 | 110 | | cost efficient, not unduly burdensome, and can be 24 |
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| 111 | 111 | | operated narrowly in a manner that ensures only 25 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 114 | 114 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 115 | 115 | | adults have access to a website’s online pornographic 1 |
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| 116 | 116 | | content. 2 |
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| 117 | 117 | | (b) S |
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| 118 | 118 | | ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-3 |
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| 119 | 119 | | gress that— 4 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (1) shielding minors from access to online por-5 |
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| 121 | 121 | | nographic content is a compelling government inter-6 |
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| 122 | 122 | | est that protects the physical and psychological well- 7 |
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| 123 | 123 | | being of minors; and 8 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (2) requiring interactive computer services that 9 |
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| 125 | 125 | | are in the business of creating, hosting, or making 10 |
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| 126 | 126 | | available pornographic content to enact technological 11 |
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| 127 | 127 | | measures that shield minors from accessing porno-12 |
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| 128 | 128 | | graphic content on their platforms is the least re-13 |
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| 129 | 129 | | strictive means for Congress to achieve its compel-14 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ling government interest. 15 |
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| 131 | 131 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 |
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| 132 | 132 | | In this Act: 17 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (1) C |
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| 134 | 134 | | HILD PORNOGRAPHY ; MINOR.—The terms 18 |
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| 135 | 135 | | ‘‘child pornography’’ and ‘‘minor’’ have the mean-19 |
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| 136 | 136 | | ings given those terms in section 2256 of title 18, 20 |
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| 137 | 137 | | United States Code. 21 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (2) C |
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| 139 | 139 | | OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 22 |
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| 140 | 140 | | means the Federal Trade Commission. 23 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (3) C |
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| 142 | 142 | | OVERED PLATFORM .—The term ‘‘covered 24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | platform’’— 25 |
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| 145 | 145 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
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| 146 | 146 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 147 | 147 | | (A) means an entity— 1 |
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| 148 | 148 | | (i) that is an interactive computer 2 |
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| 149 | 149 | | service; 3 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (ii) that— 4 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (I) is engaged in interstate or 5 |
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| 152 | 152 | | foreign commerce; or 6 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (II) purposefully avails itself of 7 |
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| 154 | 154 | | the United States market or a portion 8 |
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| 155 | 155 | | thereof; and 9 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (iii) for which it is in the regular 10 |
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| 157 | 157 | | course of the trade or business of the enti-11 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ty to create, host, or make available con-12 |
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| 159 | 159 | | tent that meets the definition of harmful to 13 |
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| 160 | 160 | | minors under paragraph (4) and that is 14 |
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| 161 | 161 | | provided by the entity, a user, or other in-15 |
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| 162 | 162 | | formation content provider, with the objec-16 |
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| 163 | 163 | | tive of earning a profit; and 17 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (B) includes an entity described in sub-18 |
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| 165 | 165 | | paragraph (A) regardless of whether— 19 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (i) the entity earns a profit on the ac-20 |
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| 167 | 167 | | tivities described in subparagraph (A)(iii); 21 |
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| 168 | 168 | | or 22 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (ii) creating, hosting, or making avail-23 |
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| 170 | 170 | | able content that meets the definition of 24 |
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| 171 | 171 | | harmful to minors under paragraph (4) is 25 |
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| 174 | 174 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 175 | 175 | | the sole source of income or principal busi-1 |
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| 176 | 176 | | ness of the entity. 2 |
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| 177 | 177 | | (4) H |
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| 178 | 178 | | ARMFUL TO MINORS.—The term ‘‘harmful 3 |
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| 179 | 179 | | to minors’’, with respect to a picture, image, graphic 4 |
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| 180 | 180 | | image file, film, videotape, or other visual depiction, 5 |
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| 181 | 181 | | means that the picture, image, graphic image file, 6 |
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| 182 | 182 | | film, videotape, or other depiction— 7 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (A)(i) taken as a whole and with respect to 8 |
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| 184 | 184 | | minors, appeals to the prurient interest in nu-9 |
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| 185 | 185 | | dity, sex, or excretion; 10 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (ii) depicts, describes, or represents, in a 11 |
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| 187 | 187 | | patently offensive way with respect to what is 12 |
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| 188 | 188 | | suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sex-13 |
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| 189 | 189 | | ual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated 14 |
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| 190 | 190 | | normal or perverted sexual acts, or lewd exhi-15 |
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| 191 | 191 | | bition of the genitals; and 16 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious, lit-17 |
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| 193 | 193 | | erary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to 18 |
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| 194 | 194 | | minors; 19 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (B) is obscene; or 20 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (C) is child pornography. 21 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (5) I |
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| 198 | 198 | | NFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER ; INTER-22 |
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| 199 | 199 | | ACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE .—The terms ‘‘informa-23 |
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| 200 | 200 | | tion content provider’’ and ‘‘interactive computer 24 |
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| 201 | 201 | | service’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-25 |
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| 204 | 204 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 205 | 205 | | tion 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 1 |
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| 206 | 206 | | U.S.C. 230(f)). 2 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (6) S |
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| 208 | 208 | | EXUAL ACT; SEXUAL CONTACT .—The 3 |
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| 209 | 209 | | terms ‘‘sexual act’’ and ‘‘sexual contact’’ have the 4 |
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| 210 | 210 | | meanings given those terms in section 2246 of title 5 |
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| 211 | 211 | | 18, United States Code. 6 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (7) T |
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| 213 | 213 | | ECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION MEASURE .— 7 |
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| 214 | 214 | | The term ‘‘technology verification measure’’ means 8 |
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| 215 | 215 | | technology that— 9 |
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| 216 | 216 | | (A) employs a system or process to deter-10 |
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| 217 | 217 | | mine whether it is more likely than not that a 11 |
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| 218 | 218 | | user of a covered platform is a minor; and 12 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (B) prevents access by minors to any con-13 |
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| 220 | 220 | | tent on a covered platform. 14 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (8) T |
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| 222 | 222 | | ECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION MEASURE 15 |
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| 223 | 223 | | DATA.—The term ‘‘technology verification measure 16 |
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| 224 | 224 | | data’’ means information that— 17 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (A) identifies, is linked to, or is reasonably 18 |
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| 226 | 226 | | linkable to an individual or a device that identi-19 |
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| 227 | 227 | | fies, is linked to, or is reasonably linkable to an 20 |
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| 228 | 228 | | individual; 21 |
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| 229 | 229 | | (B) is collected or processed for the pur-22 |
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| 230 | 230 | | pose of fulfilling a request by an individual to 23 |
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| 231 | 231 | | access any content on a covered platform; and 24 |
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| 234 | 234 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 235 | 235 | | (C) is collected and processed solely for the 1 |
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| 236 | 236 | | purpose of utilizing a technology verification 2 |
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| 237 | 237 | | measure and meeting the obligations imposed 3 |
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| 238 | 238 | | under this Act. 4 |
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| 239 | 239 | | SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION MEASURES. 5 |
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| 240 | 240 | | (a) C |
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| 241 | 241 | | OVEREDPLATFORMREQUIREMENTS.—Begin-6 |
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| 242 | 242 | | ning on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment 7 |
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| 243 | 243 | | of this Act, a covered platform shall adopt and utilize tech-8 |
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| 244 | 244 | | nology verification measures on the platform to ensure 9 |
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| 245 | 245 | | that— 10 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (1) users of the covered platform are not mi-11 |
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| 247 | 247 | | nors; and 12 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (2) minors are prevented from accessing any 13 |
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| 249 | 249 | | content on the covered platform that is harmful to 14 |
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| 250 | 250 | | minors. 15 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (b) R |
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| 252 | 252 | | EQUIREMENTS FOR AGEVERIFICATIONMEAS-16 |
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| 253 | 253 | | URES.—In order to comply with the requirement of sub-17 |
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| 254 | 254 | | section (a), the technology verification measures adopted 18 |
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| 255 | 255 | | and utilized by a covered platform shall do the following: 19 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (1) Use a technology verification measure in 20 |
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| 257 | 257 | | order to verify a user’s age. 21 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (2) Provide that requiring a user to confirm 22 |
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| 259 | 259 | | that the user is not a minor shall not be sufficient 23 |
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| 260 | 260 | | to satisfy the requirement of subsection (a). 24 |
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| 263 | 263 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 264 | 264 | | (3) Make publicly available the verification 1 |
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| 265 | 265 | | process that the covered platform is employing to 2 |
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| 266 | 266 | | comply with the requirements under this Act. 3 |
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| 267 | 267 | | (4) Subject the Internet Protocol (IP) address-4 |
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| 268 | 268 | | es, including known virtual proxy network IP ad-5 |
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| 269 | 269 | | dresses, of all users of a covered platform to the 6 |
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| 270 | 270 | | technology verification measure described in para-7 |
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| 271 | 271 | | graph (1) unless the covered platform determines 8 |
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| 272 | 272 | | based on available technology that a user is not lo-9 |
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| 273 | 273 | | cated within the United States. 10 |
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| 274 | 274 | | (c) C |
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| 275 | 275 | | HOICE OFVERIFICATIONMEASURES.—A cov-11 |
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| 276 | 276 | | ered platform may choose the specific technology 12 |
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| 277 | 277 | | verification measures to employ for purposes of complying 13 |
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| 278 | 278 | | with subsection (a), provided that the technology 14 |
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| 279 | 279 | | verification measure employed by the covered platform 15 |
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| 280 | 280 | | meets the requirements of subsection (b) and prohibits a 16 |
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| 281 | 281 | | minor from accessing the platform or any information on 17 |
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| 282 | 282 | | the platform that is obscene, child pornography, or harm-18 |
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| 283 | 283 | | ful to minors. 19 |
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| 284 | 284 | | (d) U |
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| 285 | 285 | | SE OFTHIRDPARTIES.—A covered platform 20 |
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| 286 | 286 | | may contract with a third party to employ technology 21 |
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| 287 | 287 | | verification measures for purposes of complying with sub-22 |
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| 288 | 288 | | section (a), but the use of such a third party shall not 23 |
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| 289 | 289 | | relieve the covered platform of its obligations under this 24 |
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| 290 | 290 | | Act or from liability under this Act. 25 |
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| 293 | 293 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 294 | 294 | | (e) RULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-1 |
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| 295 | 295 | | tion shall be construed to require a covered platform to 2 |
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| 296 | 296 | | submit to the Commission any information that identifies, 3 |
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| 297 | 297 | | is linked to, or is reasonably linkable to a user of the cov-4 |
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| 298 | 298 | | ered platform or a device that identifies, is linked to, or 5 |
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| 299 | 299 | | is reasonably linkable to a user of the covered platform. 6 |
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| 300 | 300 | | (f) T |
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| 301 | 301 | | ECHNOLOGYVERIFICATIONMEASUREDATASE-7 |
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| 302 | 302 | | CURITY.—A covered platform shall— 8 |
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| 303 | 303 | | (1) establish, implement, and maintain reason-9 |
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| 304 | 304 | | able data security to— 10 |
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| 305 | 305 | | (A) protect the confidentiality, integrity, 11 |
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| 306 | 306 | | and accessibility of technology verification 12 |
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| 307 | 307 | | measure data collected by the covered platform 13 |
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| 308 | 308 | | or a third party employed by the covered plat-14 |
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| 309 | 309 | | form; and 15 |
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| 310 | 310 | | (B) protect such technology verification 16 |
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| 311 | 311 | | measure data against unauthorized access; and 17 |
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| 312 | 312 | | (2) retain the technology verification measure 18 |
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| 313 | 313 | | data for no longer than is reasonably necessary to 19 |
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| 314 | 314 | | utilize a technology verification measure or what is 20 |
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| 315 | 315 | | minimally necessary to demonstrate compliance with 21 |
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| 316 | 316 | | the obligations under this Act. 22 |
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| 317 | 317 | | SEC. 5. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS. 23 |
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| 318 | 318 | | In enforcing the requirements under section 4, the 24 |
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| 319 | 319 | | Commission shall consult with the following individuals, 25 |
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| 322 | 322 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 323 | 323 | | including with respect to the applicable standards and 1 |
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| 324 | 324 | | metrics for making a determination on whether a user of 2 |
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| 325 | 325 | | a covered platform is not a minor: 3 |
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| 326 | 326 | | (1) Individuals with experience in computer 4 |
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| 327 | 327 | | science and software engineering. 5 |
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| 328 | 328 | | (2) Individuals with experience in— 6 |
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| 329 | 329 | | (A) advocating for online child safety; or 7 |
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| 330 | 330 | | (B) providing services to minors who have 8 |
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| 331 | 331 | | been victimized by online child exploitation. 9 |
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| 332 | 332 | | (3) Individuals with experience in consumer 10 |
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| 333 | 333 | | protection and online privacy. 11 |
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| 334 | 334 | | (4) Individuals who supply technology 12 |
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| 335 | 335 | | verification measure products or have expertise in 13 |
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| 336 | 336 | | technology verification measure solutions. 14 |
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| 337 | 337 | | (5) Individuals with experience in data security 15 |
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| 338 | 338 | | and cryptography. 16 |
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| 339 | 339 | | SEC. 6. COMMISSION REQUIREMENTS. 17 |
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| 340 | 340 | | (a) I |
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| 341 | 341 | | NGENERAL.—The Commission shall— 18 |
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| 342 | 342 | | (1) conduct regular audits of covered platforms 19 |
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| 343 | 343 | | to ensure compliance with the requirements of sec-20 |
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| 344 | 344 | | tion 4; 21 |
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| 345 | 345 | | (2) make public the terms and processes for the 22 |
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| 346 | 346 | | audits conducted under paragraph (1), including the 23 |
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| 347 | 347 | | processes for any third party conducting an audit on 24 |
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| 348 | 348 | | behalf of the Commission; 25 |
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| 351 | 351 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 352 | 352 | | (3) establish a process for each covered plat-1 |
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| 353 | 353 | | form to submit only such documents or other mate-2 |
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| 354 | 354 | | rials as are necessary for the Commission to ensure 3 |
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| 355 | 355 | | full compliance with the requirements of section 4 4 |
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| 356 | 356 | | when conducting audits under this section; and 5 |
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| 357 | 357 | | (4) prescribe the appropriate documents, mate-6 |
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| 358 | 358 | | rials, or other measures required to demonstrate full 7 |
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| 359 | 359 | | compliance with the requirements of section 4. 8 |
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| 360 | 360 | | (b) G |
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| 361 | 361 | | UIDANCE.— 9 |
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| 362 | 362 | | (1) I |
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| 363 | 363 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 10 |
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| 364 | 364 | | after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-11 |
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| 365 | 365 | | sion shall issue guidance to assist covered platforms 12 |
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| 366 | 366 | | in complying with the requirements of section 4. 13 |
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| 367 | 367 | | (2) L |
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| 368 | 368 | | IMITATIONS ON GUIDANCE .— 14 |
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| 369 | 369 | | (A) I |
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| 370 | 370 | | N GENERAL.—No guidance issued by 15 |
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| 371 | 371 | | the Commission with respect to this Act shall 16 |
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| 372 | 372 | | confer any rights on any person, State, or local-17 |
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| 373 | 373 | | ity, nor shall operate to bind the Commission or 18 |
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| 374 | 374 | | any person to the approach recommended in 19 |
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| 375 | 375 | | such guidance. 20 |
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| 376 | 376 | | (B) S |
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| 377 | 377 | | PECIFICITY IN ENFORCEMENT .—In 21 |
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| 378 | 378 | | any enforcement action brought pursuant to 22 |
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| 379 | 379 | | this Act, the Commission shall allege a specific 23 |
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| 380 | 380 | | violation of a provision of this Act. 24 |
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| 383 | 383 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 384 | 384 | | (C) ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS .—The Com-1 |
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| 385 | 385 | | mission may not base an enforcement action on, 2 |
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| 386 | 386 | | or execute a consent order based on, practices 3 |
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| 387 | 387 | | that are alleged to be inconsistent with any 4 |
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| 388 | 388 | | such guidelines, unless the practices allegedly 5 |
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| 389 | 389 | | violate a provision of this Act. 6 |
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| 390 | 390 | | SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT. 7 |
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| 391 | 391 | | (a) U |
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| 392 | 392 | | NFAIR ORDECEPTIVEACT ORPRACTICE.—A 8 |
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| 393 | 393 | | violation of section 4 shall be treated as a violation of a 9 |
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| 394 | 394 | | rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under 10 |
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| 395 | 395 | | section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 11 |
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| 396 | 396 | | (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 12 |
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| 397 | 397 | | (b) P |
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| 398 | 398 | | OWERS OF THECOMMISSION.— 13 |
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| 399 | 399 | | (1) I |
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| 400 | 400 | | N GENERAL.—The Commission shall en-14 |
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| 401 | 401 | | force section 4 in the same manner, by the same 15 |
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| 402 | 402 | | means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 16 |
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| 403 | 403 | | duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 17 |
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| 404 | 404 | | of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 18 |
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| 405 | 405 | | et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 19 |
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| 406 | 406 | | this title. 20 |
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| 407 | 407 | | (2) P |
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| 408 | 408 | | RIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES .—Any person 21 |
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| 409 | 409 | | who violates section 4 shall be subject to the pen-22 |
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| 410 | 410 | | alties and entitled to the privileges and immunities 23 |
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| 411 | 411 | | provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 24 |
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| 412 | 412 | | U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 25 |
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| 415 | 415 | | •S 737 IS |
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| 416 | 416 | | (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED .—Nothing in this 1 |
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| 417 | 417 | | Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 2 |
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| 418 | 418 | | Commission under any other provision of law. 3 |
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| 419 | 419 | | SEC. 8. GAO REPORT. 4 |
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| 420 | 420 | | Not later than 2 years after the date on which cov-5 |
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| 421 | 421 | | ered platforms are required to comply with the require-6 |
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| 422 | 422 | | ment of section 4(a), the Comptroller General of the 7 |
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| 423 | 423 | | United States shall submit to Congress a report that in-8 |
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| 424 | 424 | | cludes— 9 |
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| 425 | 425 | | (1) an analysis of the effectiveness of the tech-10 |
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| 426 | 426 | | nology verification measures required under such 11 |
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| 427 | 427 | | section; 12 |
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| 428 | 428 | | (2) an analysis of rates of compliance with such 13 |
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| 429 | 429 | | section among covered platforms; 14 |
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| 430 | 430 | | (3) an analysis of the data security measures 15 |
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| 431 | 431 | | used by covered platforms in the age verification 16 |
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| 432 | 432 | | process; 17 |
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| 433 | 433 | | (4) an analysis of the behavioral, economic, psy-18 |
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| 434 | 434 | | chological, and societal effects of implementing tech-19 |
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| 435 | 435 | | nology verification measures; 20 |
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| 436 | 436 | | (5) recommendations to the Commission on im-21 |
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| 437 | 437 | | proving enforcement of section 4(a), if any; and 22 |
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| 438 | 438 | | (6) recommendations to Congress on potential 23 |
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| 439 | 439 | | legislative improvements to this Act, if any. 24 |
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| 443 | 443 | | SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. 1 |
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| 444 | 444 | | If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 2 |
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| 445 | 445 | | a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 3 |
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| 446 | 446 | | unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this Act, and 4 |
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| 447 | 447 | | the application of such provisions to any other person or 5 |
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| 448 | 448 | | circumstance, shall not be affected thereby. 6 |
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| 449 | 449 | | Æ |
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