Text of OK HB 3008 (2024)

Req. No. 8545 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024) HOUSE BILL 3008 By: Randleman AS INTRODUCED An Act relating to crimes and punishments; defining terms; making commercial entities liable for publishing or distributing material harmful to minors under certain circumstances; prohibiting commercial entities from retaining identifying information; providing for damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees; providing exceptions; providing for codification; and providing an effective date. BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1040.59 of Title 21, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: A. As used in this section: 1. "Commercial entity" includes corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, limited partnerships, sole proprietorships, or other legally recognized entities; 2. "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, transfer, transmit, circulate, or disseminate by any means; Req. No. 8545 Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 3. "Internet" means the international computer network of both federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks; 4. "Material harmful to minors" includes: a. any material that the average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the material, taken as a whole and with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to or pander to the prurient interest, b. any of the following material that exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction of any of the following, in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors: (1) pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or nipple of the female breast, (2) touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals, or (3) sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act, and c. any material that, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors; Req. No. 8545 Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 5. "Minor" means any person under eighteen (18) years of age; 6. "News-gathering journalist" means any of the following: a. an employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news source that is printed or published to an online or mobile platform of current news and public interest stories, who can provide documentation of such employment with a newspaper, news publication, or news source, or b. an employee of a radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service agency, who can provide documentation of such employment with a radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service agency; 7. "Publish" means to communicate or make information available to another person or entity on a publicly available Internet website; 8. "Reasonable age verification methods" include verifying that the person seeking to access the material is eighteen (18) years of age or older by using any of the following methods: a. a digitized identification card, or b. require the person attempting to access the material to comply with a commercial age verification system that verifies in one or more of the following ways: Req. No. 8545 Page 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (1) government-issued identification, or (2) any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify whether the person attempting to access the information is eighteen (18) years of age or older; 9. "Substantial portion" means more than thirty-three and one- third percent (33 1/3%) of total material on a website, which meets the definition of material harmful to minors as defined in this subsection; and 10. "Transactional data" means a sequence of information that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between an individual, commercial entity, or third party used for the purpose of satisfying a request or event. Transactional data may include, but is not limited to, records from mortgage, education, and employment entities. B. 1. 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 be held liable if the entity fails to perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the material. 2. Any commercial entity or third party that performs the required age verification shall not retain any identifying Req. No. 8545 Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 information of the individual after access has been granted to the material. 3. Any commercial entity that is found to have: a. violated this section shall be liable to an individual for damages resulting from a minor accessing the material, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court, or b. knowingly retained identifying information of the individual after access has been granted to the individual 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. C. 1. 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 any news-gathering journalist. 2. No Internet service provider, or its affiliates or subsidiaries, 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 control of the provider, including transmission, downloading, intermediate storage, or access software, to the extent such Req. No. 8545 Page 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 provider is not responsible for the creation of the content that constitutes material harmful to minors. SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024. 59-2-8545 GRS 11/30/23