Text of MO SB 961 (2024)

SECOND REGULAR SESSION SENATE BILL NO. 961 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BECK. 3923S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary AN ACT To amend chapter 407, RSMo, by adding thereto two new sections relating to material harmful to minors, with penalty provisions. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: Section A. Chapter 407, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1 two new sections, to be known as sections 407.3005 and 407.3007, 2 to read as follows: 3 407.3005. For purposes of sections 407.3005 to 1 407.3007, the following terms shall mean: 2 (1) "Age verification", verifying that a person 3 seeking to access the material is eighteen years of age or 4 older by requiring the person attempting to access the 5 material to comply with a commercial age verification system 6 that verifies in any of the following ways: 7 (a) Government-issued identification; 8 (b) Any commercially reasonable method that relies on 9 public or private transactional data to verify that the 10 person attempting to access the information is at least 11 eighteen years of age or older; 12 (2) "Commercial entity", a corporation, limited 13 liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole 14 proprietorship, or another legally recognized entity; 15 (3) "Distribute", to issue, sell, give, provide, 16 deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by 17 any means; 18 SB 961 2 (4) "Internet", the international computer network of 19 both federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched 20 data networks; 21 (5) "Material harmful to minors", all of the following: 22 (a) Material that the average person, applying 23 contemporary community standards, would find, taking the 24 material as a whole and with respect to minors, is designed 25 to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient 26 interest; 27 (b) Any of the following material that exploits, is 28 devoted to, or principally consists of descriptions of 29 actual, simulated, or animated displays or depictions of any 30 of the following, in a manner patently offensive with 31 respect to minors: 32 a. Pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or a female 33 nipple; 34 b. Touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples or 35 breasts of females, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; 36 c. Sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, 37 bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory 38 functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act; 39 d. Material, taken as a whole, that lacks serious 40 literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for 41 minors; 42 (6) "Minor", any person under the age of eighteen; 43 (7) "News-gathering organization", any newspaper, news 44 publication, or news source, printed or on an online or 45 mobile platform, of current news and public interest, radio 46 broadcast station, television broadcast station, or cable 47 television operator focused on delivering news to the 48 general public; 49 SB 961 3 (8) "Publish", to communicate or make information 50 available to another person or entity on a publicly 51 available website; 52 (9) "Substantial portion", more than thirty-three and 53 one-third percent of total material on a website which meets 54 the definition of material harmful to minors; 55 (10) "Transactional data", a sequence of information 56 that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between 57 an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for 58 the purpose of satisfying a request or event including, but 59 is not limited to, records from mortgage, education, and 60 employers. 61 407.3007. 1. A commercial entity shall not publish or 1 distribute material harmful to minors on the internet from a 2 website that contains a substantial portion of such 3 material, unless the commercial entity performs age 4 verification to ensure that an individual attempting to 5 access material harmful to minors is at least eighteen years 6 of age. 7 2. Any individual may report violations of this 8 section to the attorney general. If the attorney general 9 finds that a commercial entity violated provisions of this 10 section, the attorney general shall bring a civil action 11 against the commercial entity in a court of competent 12 jurisdiction. 13 3. If the court finds that a commercial entity 14 violated provisions of this section, the court may grant 15 actual damages, injunctive relief, civil penalties not to 16 exceed five thousand dollars for each day of the violation, 17 attorney fees, and any other relief the court finds 18 appropriate. 19 SB 961 4 4. The attorney general may request additional civil 20 penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars for each day of 21 the violation of this section against a commercial entity. 22 5. There is hereby created in the state treasury the 23 "Cyber Exploitation of Children Fund". Moneys in the fund 24 shall be expended for the investigation of cyber crimes 25 involving the exploitation of children. The attorney 26 general shall administer the fund. In accordance with 27 sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state treasurer may approve 28 disbursements. The fund shall be a dedicated fund and money 29 in the fund shall be used solely for the purposes of the 30 implementation of sections 407.3005 and 407.3007. 31 Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080 to the 32 contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the 33 biennium shall not revert to the credit of the general 34 revenue fund. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in 35 the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. 36 Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be 37 credited to the fund. 38 6. The attorney general shall deposit all civil 39 penalties granted by the court for violation of this section 40 into the cyber exploitation of children fund. 41 7. This section shall not be construed to affect the 42 rights of any news-gathering organization. 43 8. This section shall not apply to any internet 44 service provider, or its affiliates or subsidiaries, search 45 engine, or cloud service provider that provides access or 46 connection to or from a website or other information or 47 content on the internet or a facility, system, or network 48 not under the control of that provider, including 49 transmission, downloading, intermediate storage, access 50 software, or other related capabilities, to the extent the 51 SB 961 5 provider is not responsible for the creation of the content 52 of the communication that constitutes material harmful to 53 minors. 54 