§15-791.2. Commercial entities publishing or distributing material

610 words·~3 min read·/ok/title-15-contracts/15-791-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

harmful to minors — Blocking access — Liability — Age verification.

A. Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the Internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material shall provide Internet service subscribers and cellular service subscribers the opportunity, before any individual using such services may access the material, to request that access to the material by subscription service be denied.

B. Upon such request by an Internet service subscriber or cellular service subscriber, a commercial entity shall, without charge, block access to its website on any device seeking to access its website using the subscriber’s Internet service or cellular service subscription so that a minor does not receive material harmful to minors via that subscription.

C. A commercial entity that fails to provide Internet service subscribers or cellular service subscribers an opportunity to request that access to the commercial entity’s website be blocked is in violation of this act and may be held liable to the minor, by and through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for nominal damages, actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court.

D. A commercial entity that, after receipt of such request to block access, allows a minor to access material harmful to minors on its website is in violation of this act and may be held liable to the minor, by and through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court.

E. A commercial entity that has violated this act in a manner that satisfies the standards for imposition of punitive damages

elsewhere provided by law may be held liable to the minor, by and through the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for punitive damages.

F. Individual claims that satisfy the generally applicable standards for joinder or class action elsewhere provided by law or rules of court, as applicable, may combine their claims in a single action.

G. A commercial entity shall not be held liable for allowing access to its website if the entity performs reasonable age verification methods to verify that the individual attempting to access the material from its website is not a minor.

H. A commercial entity or third party that performs reasonable age verification methods shall not retain any identifying information of the individual after access has been granted to the material.

I. A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly retained identifying information of the individual, except as is reasonably necessary to effectuate a block request under this section, shall be liable to the individual for damages resulting from retaining the identifying information, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court.

J. This section shall not apply to any bona fide news or public interest broadcast, website video, report, or event and shall not be construed to affect the rights of a news-gathering organization, unless the organization’s website contains a substantial portion of material harmful to minors.

K. No Internet service provider, affiliate or subsidiary of an Internet service provider, search engine, or cloud service provider shall be held to have violated the provisions of this section solely for providing access or connection to or from a website or other information or content on the Internet, or a facility, system, or network not under the provider’s control, including transmission, downloading, storing, or providing access, to the extent that such provider is not responsible for the creation of the content of the communication that constitutes obscene material or material harmful to minors. Added by Laws 2024, c. 181, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2024.