CSHB 254(JUD) am: "An Act relating to minors and the Internet; and relating to use of social media by minors."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 254(JUD) am 01 "An Act relating to minors and the Internet; and relating to use of social media by 02 minors." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 09.68 is amended by adding a new section to read: 05 Sec. 09.68.140. Civil liability for publishing or distributing pornography to 06 minors on the Internet. (a) A commercial entity that intentionally publishes or 07 distributes pornography on the Internet from an Internet website that contains a 08 substantial portion of pornography shall use a commercially reasonable age 09 verification method to verify that a person attempting to access the pornography is 18 10 years of age or older. A commercial entity that violates this subsection is liable to an 11 individual for damages resulting from a minor accessing the pornography. In this 12 subsection, "commercially reasonable age verification method" includes requiring the 13 person attempting to access the pornography to provide a digitized identification card, 14 requiring the person to comply with a commercial age verification system that verifies
01 age using government-issued identification, or another method that relies on public or 02 private transactional data. 03 (b) A commercial entity or third party may not retain identifying information 04 of an individual used to verify age under (a) of this section after access has been 05 granted to the pornography. A commercial entity that knowingly retains identifying 06 information of an individual after access has been granted to the individual is liable to 07 the individual for damages resulting from retaining the identifying information. 08 (c) The attorney general may investigate an alleged violation of (a) or (b) of 09 this section and may bring a civil action in superior court. 10 (d) In addition to damages under (a) or (b) of this section, a commercial entity 11 that knowingly violates (a) or (b) of this section is liable to the state in a civil action 12 for 13 (1) a civil penalty of $10,000 for each day that the commercial entity is 14 in violation of (a) or (b) of this section; 15 (2) an additional civil penalty of not more than $250,000 if, as a result 16 of the commercial entity's violation of (a) of this section, a minor accesses 17 pornography that the entity published or distributed; and 18 (3) full reasonable attorney fees and costs. 19 (e) When determining the amount of a civil penalty under (d)(2) of this 20 section, the superior court shall consider 21 (1) the seriousness of the violation, including the nature, 22 circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation; 23 (2) the commercial entity's history of prior violations; 24 (3) the deterrent effect of the civil penalty; 25 (4) the economic effect of the civil penalty on the commercial entity; 26 (5) the commercial entity's knowledge of the requirements of this 27 section; and 28 (6) any other information that justice requires. 29 (f) This section does not apply to a news or public interest broadcast, Internet 30 website video, report, or event. This section may not be construed to affect the rights 31 of a
01 (1) printed, online, or mobile platform newspaper, news publication, or 02 news source of current news; 03 (2) radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable 04 television operator, or wire service; or 05 (3) an employee of an entity identified in (1) or (2) of this subsection. 06 (g) A commercial entity that is an Internet service provider, search engine, 07 cloud service provider, or affiliate or subsidiary of an Internet service provider is not 08 liable under this section if the entity 09 (1) is not responsible for the creation of the pornography; and 10 (2) solely provides access or connections to 11 (A) an Internet website; 12 (B) information or material on the Internet; or 13 (C) a system or network, not under the control of the entity, for 14 data transmission, intermediate storage, Internet access software, or another 15 service related to Internet access or connectivity. 16 (h) In this section, 17 (1) "commercial entity" includes a corporation, limited liability 18 company, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship, or other entity 19 recognized by law; 20 (2) "distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, transfer, 21 transmit, circulate, or disseminate by any means; 22 (3) "Internet" means the international computer network of both 23 federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks; 24 (4) "minor" means a person under 18 years of age; 25 (5) "pornography" means material that 26 (A) the average person, applying contemporary community 27 standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with respect to 28 minors, is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient 29 interest; 30 (B) in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors, 31 exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of a description or an actual,
01 simulated, or animated display or depiction of 02 (i) pubic hair, anuses, vulvas, genitals, or nipples of a 03 female breast; 04 (ii) touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, 05 buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or 06 (iii) sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, 07 bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, exhibitions, 08 or any other sexual act; and 09 (C) when taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, 10 political, or scientific value for minors; 11 (6) "publish" means to communicate or make information available to 12 another person or entity on a publicly available Internet website; 13 (7) "substantial portion" means more than one-third of the total 14 material on an Internet website contains pornography; 15 (8) "transactional data" means a sequence of information that 16 documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between an individual, commercial 17 entity, or third party used for the purpose of satisfying a request or event. 18 * Sec. 2. AS 44.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 19 Article 3. Parental Control Software Reimbursement. 20 Sec. 44.30.150. Parental control software reimbursement program. (a) The 21 department shall administer a parental control software reimbursement program. 22 (b) The department shall reimburse a parent who applies for reimbursement 23 and provides the department with sufficient documentation of an expenditure on 24 parental control software for a child's Internet-connected device. The department may 25 reimburse a parent up to $100 for parental control software for each child each year. 26 The department shall adjust the amount of the reimbursement annually to reflect 27 changes in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers for urban Alaska 28 compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. 29 (c) If the amount appropriated in a fiscal year is insufficient to reimburse each 30 applicant, the department shall distribute the available funds on a pro rata basis. 31 (d) The department may adopt regulations necessary to implement this
01 section. 02 (e) In this section, 03 (1) "department" means the Department of Family and Community 04 Services; 05 (2) "parent" means a 06 (A) child's natural or adoptive parent; 07 (B) child's guardian, but not the state if the child is in the legal 08 custody of the state; 09 (C) person who is acting in the place of a child's natural or 10 adoptive parent, such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, 11 or a person who is legally responsible for the child's welfare; and 12 (D) child's surrogate parent who has been appointed under 13 AS 14.30.325. 14 * Sec. 3. AS 45.50 is amended by adding new sections to read: 15 Article 5A. Social Media Platforms and Minors. 16 Sec. 45.50.650. User age restrictions. (a) A social media platform may not 17 allow a minor under 14 years of age who is a resident of the state to enter into a 18 contract with the platform to create or maintain an account on the platform. 19 (b) A social media platform may not allow a minor who is 14 or 15 years of 20 age and a resident of the state to enter into a contract with the platform to create or 21 maintain an account on the platform without first obtaining written consent from the 22 minor's confirmed parent. 23 (c) A social media platform shall verify the age of each user of the platform in 24 the state using a commercially reasonable age verification method. In this subsection, 25 "commercially reasonable age verification method" includes requiring the user to 26 provide a digitized identification card, requiring the person to comply with a 27 commercial age verification system that verifies age using government-issued 28 identification, or another method that relies on public or private transactional data. 29 (d) A third party that obtains identifying information about a user to verify age 30 under (c) of this section may not retain the information after the user's age has been 31 verified.
01 Sec. 45.50.660. Account termination and deletion of personal information. 02 (a) A social media platform shall terminate the account of 03 (1) a minor under 14 years of age; and 04 (2) a minor who is 14 or 15 years of age whose confirmed parent has 05 not provided written consent for the minor to maintain the account. 06 (b) A social media platform shall provide a 90-day period during which a 07 minor user or a minor user's confirmed parent may dispute the termination of an 08 account under (a) of this section. Termination takes effect after 90 days if the minor 09 user or the minor user's confirmed parent does not effectively dispute the termination. 10 (c) A social media platform shall allow a minor user under 16 years of age or 11 the minor user's confirmed parent to request to terminate the minor's account. Account 12 termination under this subsection must take effect within 10 business days after the 13 termination request. 14 (d) A social media platform shall permanently delete all personal information 15 held by the social media platform related to an account terminated under this section, 16 unless the social media platform is required by law to retain the information. 17 Sec. 45.50.670. Enforcement and penalties. (a) If a third party providing age 18 verification under AS 45.50.650(c) or social media platform violates AS 45.50.650 - 19 45.50.690, the attorney general may bring an action in superior court to seek 20 injunctive relief, civil penalties, or other appropriate remedies. 21 (b) A third party providing age verification under AS 45.50.650(c) or social 22 media platform that violates AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690 is subject to a civil penalty of 23 not more than $10,000 for each violation. 24 (c) When determining the amount of a civil penalty under this section, the 25 superior court shall consider 26 (1) the seriousness of the violation, including the nature, 27 circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation; 28 (2) the history of prior violations; 29 (3) the deterrent effect of the civil penalty; 30 (4) the economic effect of the civil penalty on the violator; 31 (5) the violator's knowledge of the requirements of AS 45.50.650 -
01 45.50.690; and 02 (6) any other information that justice requires. 03 Sec. 45.50.680. Private right of action. If a third party providing age 04 verification under AS 45.50.650(c) or social media platform violates AS 45.50.650 - 05 45.50.690, a parent or other person with legal custody of a minor user who is harmed 06 by the violation may bring an action against the platform in superior court to seek 07 actual damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and costs. 08 Sec. 45.50.690. Definitions. In AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690, 09 (1) "confirmed parent" means a parent or other person who has legal 10 custody of a minor under 16 years of age and whose identity and relationship to the 11 minor have been verified by a social media platform; 12 (2) "minor" means an individual under 18 years of age who has not 13 had the disabilities of a minor removed as described in AS 09.55.590; 14 (3) "social media platform" means an online service, application, or 15 Internet website that is available to the general public and that allows users to create, 16 share, or view user-generated content, including text, images, videos, or audio; "social 17 media platform" does not include an online service, application, or Internet website 18 that exclusively provides 19 (A) electronic mail services; or 20 (B) direct messaging consisting of text, photographs, pictures, 21 images, or videos shared only between the sender and a recipient, without 22 displaying or posting to other users not specifically identified as a recipient by 23 the sender; 24 (4) "user" means a person who accesses or uses a social media 25 platform.