By: Paxton  S.B. No. 2021
         (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  April 13, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 13, 2023,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2021 By:  Hughes
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to requirements for certain Internet websites containing
  sexual material harmful to minors; providing a civil penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Chapter 120, Business & Commerce
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 120. SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND INTERNET WEBSITES
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 120, Business & Commerce Code, is
  amended by adding Subchapter E to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER E.  SEXUAL MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS
         Sec. 120.201.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
               (1)  "Commercial entity" includes a corporation,
  limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole
  proprietorship, or other legally recognized business entity.
               (2)  "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide,
  deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any
  means.
               (3)  "Minor" means an individual younger than 18 years
  of age.
               (4)  "News-gathering organization" includes:
                     (A)  an employee of a newspaper, news publication,
  or news source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of
  current news and public interest, who is acting within the course
  and scope of that employment and can provide documentation of that
  employment with the newspaper, news publication, or news source;
  and
                     (B)  an employee of a radio broadcast station,
  television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire
  service who is acting within the course and scope of that employment
  and can provide documentation of that employment.
               (5)  "Publish" means to communicate or make information
  available to another person or entity on a publicly available
  Internet website.
               (6)  "Sexual material harmful to minors" includes any
  material that:
                     (A)  the average person, applying contemporary
  community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and
  with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to or pander to the
  prurient interest;
                     (B)  in a manner patently offensive with respect
  to minors, exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of
  descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction
  of:
                           (i)  a person's pubic hair, anus, or genitals
  or the nipple of the female breast;
                           (ii)  touching, caressing, or fondling of
  nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or
                           (iii)  sexual intercourse, masturbation,
  sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory
  functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act; and
                     (C)  taken as a whole, lacks serious literary,
  artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
               (7)  "Transactional data" means a sequence of
  information that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer
  between an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for
  the purpose of satisfying a request or event. The term includes
  records from mortgage, education, and employment entities.
         Sec. 120.202.  PUBLICATION OF MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS.
  (a)  A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes
  or distributes material on an Internet website, including a social
  media platform, more than one-third of which is sexual material
  harmful to minors, shall use reasonable age verification methods as
  described by Section 120.203 to verify that an individual
  attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older.
         (b)  A commercial entity that performs the age verification
  required by Subsection (a) or a third party that performs the age
  verification required by Subsection (a) may not retain any
  identifying information of the individual after access has been
  granted to the material.
         (c)  A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
  publishes or distributes material on an Internet website that is
  found to have violated this section is liable to the parent or
  guardian of the minor for damages resulting from a minor's access to
  the material, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees
  as ordered by the court.
         (d)  A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
  publishes or distributes material on an Internet website or a third
  party that performs the age verification required by Subsection (a)
  that is found to have knowingly retained identifying information of
  an individual after access has been granted to the individual is
  liable to the individual for damages resulting from retaining the
  identifying information, including court costs and reasonable
  attorney's fees as ordered by the court.
         Sec. 120.203.  REASONABLE AGE VERIFICATION METHODS. (a)  In
  this section, "digital identification" means information stored on
  a digital network that may be accessed by a commercial entity and
  that serves as proof of the identity of an individual.
         (b)  A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally
  publishes or distributes material on an Internet website or a third
  party that performs age verification under this subchapter shall
  require an individual to:
               (1)  provide digital identification; or
               (2)  comply with a commercial age verification system
  that verifies age using:
                     (A)  government-issued identification; or
                     (B)  a commercially reasonable method that relies
  on public or private transactional data to verify the age of an
  individual.
         Sec. 120.204.  SEXUAL MATERIALS HEALTH WARNINGS.  A
  commercial entity required to use reasonable age verification
  methods under Section 120.202(a) shall:
               (1)  display the following notices on the landing page
  of the Internet website and all advertisements for the Internet
  website in 14-point font or larger:
               "TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Pornography
  is potentially biologically addictive, is proven to harm human
  brain development, desensitizes brain reward circuits, increases
  conditioned responses, and weakens brain function."
               "TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Exposure to
  this content is associated with low self-esteem and body image,
  eating disorders, impaired brain development, and other emotional
  and mental illnesses."
               "TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WARNING: Pornography
  increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation, and
  child pornography."; and
               (2)  display the following notice at the bottom of
  every page of the Internet website in 14-point font or larger:
  "U.S. SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
  HELPLINE:
  1-800-662-HELP (4357)
  THIS HELPLINE IS A FREE, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION SERVICE (IN
  ENGLISH OR SPANISH) OPEN 24 HOURS PER DAY, FOR INDIVIDUALS AND
  FAMILY MEMBERS FACING MENTAL HEALTH OR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS.  
  THE SERVICE PROVIDES REFERRAL TO LOCAL TREATMENT FACILITIES,
  SUPPORT GROUPS, AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS."
         Sec. 120.205.  ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL; CIVIL
  PENALTY. (a) A commercial entity who violates this subchapter is
  liable to this state for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed
  $30,000 for each violation.
         (b)  The attorney general may bring an action in the name of
  the state to recover a civil penalty under this section. The
  attorney general may recover attorney's fees and costs incurred in
  bringing an action under this section.
         (c)  The action may be brought in a district court in:
               (1)  Travis County; or
               (2)  a county in which any part of the violation or
  threatened violation occurs.
         (d)  The attorney general shall deposit a civil penalty
  collected under this section in the state treasury to the credit of
  the general revenue fund.
         Sec. 120.206.  CIVIL ACTION AGAINST COMMERCIAL ENTITY. (a)
  A parent or guardian of a minor who accesses sexual material harmful
  to minors due to the violation of this subchapter by a commercial
  entity may bring a civil action against the commercial entity.
         (b)  A parent or guardian who brings an action under this
  section shall provide written notice of the action to the attorney
  general.
         (c)  Notwithstanding Sections 41.003 and 41.004, Civil
  Practice and Remedies Code, a parent or guardian who prevails in an
  action under this section is entitled to recover:
               (1)  damages in the amount of $10,000;
               (2)  court costs; and
               (3)  attorney's fees.
         (d)  A court may certify an action brought against a
  commercial entity under this section as a class action.
         Sec. 120.207.  OTHER ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. (a) In
  addition to collecting the penalty under Section 120.205, the
  attorney general may bring a civil action to enjoin a commercial
  entity from further violating this subchapter.
         (b)  The attorney general may join an action for which the
  attorney general receives notice under Section 120.206(b).
         (c)  The court shall permit the attorney general to join an
  action in accordance with Subsection (b) not later than the 30th day
  after the date the attorney general receives notice of the action.
         (d)  If the attorney general joins an action in accordance
  with Subsection (b), the attorney general may seek the remedies
  provided under Subsection (a) and Section 120.205.
         Sec. 120.208.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. (a)  This
  subchapter does not apply to a bona fide news or public interest
  broadcast, website video, report, or event and may not be construed
  to affect the rights of a news-gathering organization.
         (b)  An Internet service provider, or its affiliates or
  subsidiaries, a search engine, or a cloud service provider may not
  be held to have violated this subchapter solely for providing
  access or connection to or from a website or other information or
  content on the Internet or on a facility, system, or network not
  under that provider's control, including transmission,
  downloading, intermediate storage, access software, or other
  services to the extent the provider or search engine is not
  responsible for the creation of the content that constitutes sexual
  material harmful to minors.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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