Bill Text: IA SF443 | 2025-2026 | 91st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.(Formerly SF 207.)
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-26 - Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 371. [SF443 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2025-SF443-Introduced.html
Senate
File
443
-
Introduced
SENATE
FILE
443
BY
COMMITTEE
ON
TECHNOLOGY
(SUCCESSOR
TO
SF
207)
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
certain
commercial
entities
who
publish
or
1
distribute
obscene
material
on
the
internet,
and
providing
2
civil
penalties.
3
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
4
TLSB
1708SV
(2)
91
dg/jh
S.F.
443
Section
1.
NEW
SECTION
.
554I.1
Definitions.
1
For
purposes
of
this
chapter:
2
1.
a.
“Covered
platform”
means
a
commercial
entity
for
3
which
it
is
in
the
regular
course
of
the
trade
or
business
of
4
the
entity
to
create,
host,
or
make
available,
on
the
internet,
5
obscene
material
provided
by
the
entity,
a
user,
or
other
6
information
content
provider.
7
b.
For
purposes
of
this
subsection,
the
presence
alone
of
8
obscene
material
on
a
commercial
entity’s
internet
site
shall
9
not
be
construed
to
mean
that
the
commercial
entity’s
regular
10
course
of
trade
or
business
is
creating,
hosting,
or
making
11
available
obscene
material
on
the
internet.
When
determining
12
whether
a
commercial
entity’s
regular
course
of
trade
or
13
business
is
creating,
hosting,
or
making
available
obscene
14
material
on
the
internet,
a
court
shall
consider
all
of
the
15
following:
16
(1)
The
amount
of
data
that
constitutes
obscene
material
on
17
the
commercial
entity’s
internet
site.
18
(2)
The
amount
of
data
that
constitutes
obscene
material
19
on
the
commercial
entity’s
internet
site
in
proportion
to
the
20
total
amount
of
data
on
the
commercial
entity’s
internet
site.
21
(3)
The
amount
of
user
traffic
to
obscene
material
on
the
22
commercial
entity’s
internet
site.
23
(4)
The
amount
of
user
traffic
to
obscene
material
on
the
24
commercial
entity’s
internet
site
in
proportion
to
all
user
25
traffic
on
the
commercial
entity’s
internet
site.
26
(5)
The
amount
of
revenue
the
commercial
entity
obtains
from
27
obscene
material
on
the
commercial
entity’s
internet
site.
28
(6)
The
amount
of
revenue
the
commercial
entity
generates
29
from
obscene
material
on
the
commercial
entity’s
internet
site
30
in
proportion
to
all
revenues
the
commercial
entity
generates.
31
(7)
Any
other
factor
the
court
deems
relevant.
32
2.
“Identifying
information”
means
any
representation
of
33
information
that
permits
the
identity
of
an
individual
to
whom
34
the
information
applies
to
be
reasonably
inferred
by
either
35
-1-
LSB
1708SV
(2)
91
dg/jh
1/
5
S.F.
443
direct
or
indirect
means.
1
3.
“Information
content
provider”
means
the
same
as
defined
2
in
47
U.S.C.
§230.
3
4.
“Interactive
computer
service”
means
the
same
as
defined
4
in
47
U.S.C.
§230.
5
5.
“Obscene
material”
means
the
same
as
defined
in
section
6
728.1.
7
6.
“Provider”
means
all
of
the
following:
8
a.
An
internet
service
provider.
9
b.
A
cloud
service
provider.
10
c.
A
wireless
service
provider.
11
d.
An
internet
search
engine.
12
e.
An
information
service
as
defined
in
47
U.S.C.
§153.
13
f.
A
telecommunications
service
as
defined
in
47
U.S.C.
14
§153.
15
g.
A
cable
service
as
defined
in
47
U.S.C.
§522.
16
h.
An
affiliate
or
a
subsidiary
of
an
entity
listed
in
17
paragraph
“a”
through
“g”
.
18
7.
“Reasonable
age
verification”
means
verifying
the
age
of
19
an
individual
by
using
any
of
the
following
methods:
20
a.
Government-issued
identification.
21
b.
Financial
documents
or
other
documents
that
are
reliable
22
proxies
for
age.
23
c.
Any
other
commercially
reasonable
and
reliable
method.
24
Sec.
2.
NEW
SECTION
.
554I.2
Publication
and
distribution
25
of
obscene
material
on
the
internet
——
age
verification
——
civil
26
liability.
27
1.
A
covered
platform
shall
be
held
liable
if
the
covered
28
platform
fails
to
perform
reasonable
age
verification
of
29
individuals
attempting
to
access
obscene
material
published
or
30
distributed
by
the
covered
platform.
31
2.
Reasonable
age
verification
required
under
subsection
32
1
may
be
performed
by
a
third
party
subject
to
state
33
jurisdiction,
and
may
employ
cryptographic
techniques
such
34
as
zero
knowledge
proofs
to
preserve
anonymity
and
protect
35
-2-
LSB
1708SV
(2)
91
dg/jh
2/
5
S.F.
443
privacy.
1
3.
a.
A
covered
platform
or
third
party
that
performs
the
2
reasonable
age
verification
required
under
subsection
1
shall
3
not
retain
an
individual’s
identifying
information
after
the
4
covered
platform
or
third
party
completes
the
individual’s
5
reasonable
age
verification.
6
b.
A
covered
platform
or
third
party
that
performs
the
7
reasonable
age
verification
required
under
subsection
1
shall
8
not
distribute,
sell,
or
otherwise
disseminate
an
individual’s
9
identifying
information
obtained
through
the
covered
platform’s
10
or
third
party’s
performance
of
reasonable
age
verification.
11
Sec.
3.
NEW
SECTION
.
554I.3
Enforcement
——
penalties.
12
1.
If
the
attorney
general
has
reasonable
belief
that
a
13
covered
platform,
or
third
party
performing
reasonable
age
14
verification,
is
in
violation
of
this
chapter,
the
attorney
15
general
has
the
sole
authority
to
bring
civil
action
to
provide
16
for
all
of
the
following:
17
a.
Enjoinment
of
further
violations
by
the
covered
platform
18
or
third
party
performing
reasonable
age
verification.
19
b.
Enforcement
of
compliance
with
this
chapter.
20
c.
Assessment
of
civil
penalties
in
an
amount
not
more
than
21
ten
thousand
dollars
for
each
violation
of
this
chapter.
22
d.
Other
remedies
permitted
under
law.
23
2.
If
the
attorney
general
has
reasonable
belief
that
a
24
covered
platform,
or
third
party
performing
reasonable
age
25
verification,
is
in
violation
of
an
injunction
issued
under
26
this
section,
the
attorney
general
has
the
sole
authority
to
27
bring
civil
action
to
provide
for
civil
penalties
in
an
amount
28
not
more
than
one
hundred
thousand
dollars.
29
3.
An
individual
that
has
knowledge
of
a
violation
of
this
30
chapter
may
report
the
violation
to
the
attorney
general.
31
4.
The
attorney
general
shall
establish
an
electronic
32
reporting
system
for
the
submission
of
reports
pursuant
to
this
33
section.
34
Sec.
4.
NEW
SECTION
.
554I.4
Limitations
on
liability.
35
-3-
LSB
1708SV
(2)
91
dg/jh
3/
5
S.F.
443
1.
This
chapter
shall
not
be
construed
to
impose
liability
1
on
a
user
of
an
interactive
computer
service
on
the
internet.
2
2.
This
chapter
shall
not
be
construed
to
impose
liability
3
on
a
provider
solely
for
providing
access
or
connection
to
4
a
covered
platform,
or
to
obscene
material
on
an
internet
5
site
or
in
a
facility,
system,
or
network
not
under
the
6
provider’s
control.
For
purposes
of
this
subsection,
“access
7
or
connection”
includes
but
is
not
limited
to
transmitting,
8
downloading,
providing
intermediate
storage
for,
and
providing
9
access
software
for
data.
10
EXPLANATION
11
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
12
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
13
This
bill
relates
to
certain
commercial
entities
who
publish
14
or
distribute
certain
material
on
the
internet.
15
The
bill
defines
“covered
platform”,
“identifying
16
information”,
“information
content
provider”,
“interactive
17
computer
service”,
“obscene
material”,
“provider”,
and
18
“reasonable
age
verification”.
19
The
bill
makes
a
covered
platform
liable
if
the
covered
20
platform
fails
to
perform
reasonable
age
verification
of
21
individuals
attempting
to
access
obscene
material
published
22
or
distributed
by
the
covered
platform.
Reasonable
23
age
verification
includes
the
use
of
government-issued
24
identification,
financial
documents
or
other
documents
that
25
are
reliable
proxies
for
age,
or
any
other
commercially
26
reasonable
and
reliable
method.
Reasonable
age
verification
27
may
be
performed
by
a
third
party
subject
to
state
jurisdiction
28
(third
party),
and
the
bill
permits
the
use
of
cryptographic
29
techniques
to
preserve
anonymity
and
protect
privacy.
A
30
covered
platform
or
third
party
is
prohibited
from
retaining
31
an
individual’s
identifying
information
after
completing
32
the
individual’s
reasonable
age
verification,
and
from
33
distributing,
selling,
or
disseminating
an
individual’s
34
identifying
information
obtained
through
the
performance
of
35
-4-
LSB
1708SV
(2)
91
dg/jh
4/
5
S.F.
443
reasonable
age
verification.
1
The
bill’s
provisions
are
not
to
be
construed
as
to
impose
2
liability
on
a
user
of
an
interactive
computer
service
on
the
3
internet.
4
The
bill’s
provisions
are
not
to
be
construed
as
to
impose
5
liability
on
a
provider
solely
for
providing
access
or
6
connection
to
a
covered
platform,
or
to
obscene
material
on
an
7
internet
site
or
in
a
facility,
system,
or
network
not
under
8
the
provider’s
control.
9
If
the
attorney
general
has
reasonable
belief
that
a
covered
10
platform,
or
third
party,
is
in
violation
of
the
bill,
the
11
attorney
general
may
bring
a
civil
action
to
enjoin
further
12
violations,
enforce
compliance
with
the
bill,
assess
a
civil
13
penalty
in
an
amount
not
more
than
$10,000
for
each
violation,
14
and
provide
other
remedies
permitted
by
law.
If
the
attorney
15
general
has
reasonable
belief
that
a
covered
platform,
or
third
16
party,
is
in
violation
of
an
injunction
issued
under
the
bill,
17
the
attorney
general
may
bring
a
civil
action
to
provide
for
18
civil
penalties
in
an
amount
not
more
than
$100,000.
19
The
bill
allows
individuals
with
knowledge
of
a
violation
to
20
report
the
violation
to
the
attorney
general,
and
requires
the
21
attorney
general
to
establish
an
electronic
reporting
system
22
for
the
submission
of
reports
of
violations
of
the
bill.
23
-5-
LSB
1708SV
(2)
91
dg/jh
5/
5
