Bill > HB1993

This bill establishes provisions relating to civil liability for publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the internet. Key provisions include: 1. Defining "material harmful to minors" as content that is designed to appeal to or pander to the prurient interest of minors, contains explicit depictions of sexual acts, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. 2. Requiring commercial entities that publish or distribute a substantial portion of such material on their websites to use reasonable age verification methods to restrict access by minors, or face liability for damages if minors access the material. 3. Exempting bona fide news or public interest broadcasts, websites, and events, as well as internet service providers, search engines, and cloud service providers that do not create the harmful content, from liability under this law. 4. Providing for a minimum award of $20,000 in damages per violation, plus court costs and attorney's fees, for commercial entities found to have violated the law or improperly retained users' identifying information.