Text of OK SB 1960 (2024)

Req. No. 2262 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 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) SENATE BILL 1960 By: Jett AS INTRODUCED An Act relating to material harmful to minors; amending 21 O.S. 2021, Section 1040.75, which relates to definitions; updating statutory references; updating statutory language; directing commercial entities to establish age verification methods to prevent minors from accessing harmful material; prohibiting retention of certain identifying information; establishing certain liability; providing specific exceptions; providing for codification; and providing an effective date. BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 21 O.S. 2021, Section 1040.75, is amended to read as follows: Section 1040.75. As used in Sections 1040.75 through 1040.77 of this title and Section 2 of this act: 1. “Minor” means any unmarried person under the age of eighteen (18) years; 2. “Harmful to minors” means: a. that quality of any description, exhibition, presentation or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or Req. No. 2262 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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 sadomasochistic abuse when the material or performance, taken as a whole, has the following characteristics: (1) the average person eighteen (18) years of age or older applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance has a predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest in sex to minors, and (2) the average person eighteen (18) years of age or older applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance depicts or describes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse in a manner that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors, and (3) the material or performance lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors, or b. any description, exhibition, presentation or representation, in whatever form, of inappropriate violence; 3. “Inappropriate violence” means any description or representation, in an interactive video game or computer software, Req. No. 2262 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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 of violence which, taken as a whole, has the following characteristics: a. the average person eighteen (18) years of age or older applying contemporary community standards would find that the interactive video game or computer software is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors, and b. the interactive video game or computer software lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors based on, but not limited to, the following criteria: (1) is glamorized or gratuitous, (2) is graphic violence used to shock or stimulate, (3) is graphic violence that is not contextually relevant to the material, (4) is so pervasive that it serves as the thread holding the plot of the material together, (5) trivializes the serious nature of realistic violence, (6) does not demonstrate the consequences or effects of realistic violence, (7) uses brutal weapons designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain and damage, Req. No. 2262 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 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (8) endorses or glorifies torture or excessive weaponry, or (9) depicts lead characters who resort to violence freely; 4. “Nudity” means the: a. showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, b. showing of the female breast with less than a full opaque covering of any portion of the female breast below the top of the nipple, or c. depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state; 5. “Sexual conduct” means acts of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person’s clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or, if such person be a female, breast; 6. “Sexual excitement” means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal; 7. “Sadomasochistic abuse” means flagellation or torture by or upon a person clothed or naked or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one so clothed or naked; Req. No. 2262 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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 8. “Material” means any book, magazine, newspaper, pamphlet, poster, print, picture, figure, image, description, motion picture film, record, recording tape, CD-ROM disk, Magnetic Disk Memory magnetic disk memory, Magnetic Tape Memory magnetic tape memory, video tape, computer software or video game; 9. “CD-ROM” means a compact disk with read only memory which has the capacity to store audio, video and written materials and may be used by computer to play or display materials harmful to minors; 10. “Magnetic Disk Memory” disk memory” means a memory system that stores and retrieves binary data on record-like metal or plastic disks coated with a magnetic material, including but not limited to floppy diskettes; 11. “Magnetic Tape Memory” tape memory” means a memory system that stores and retrieves binary data on magnetic recording tape; 12. “Performance” means any motion picture, film, video tape, played record, phonograph or tape, preview, trailer, play, show, skit, dance, or other exhibition performed or presented to or before an audience of one or more, with or without consideration; 13. “Knowingly” means having general knowledge of, or reason to know, or a belief or ground for belief which warrants further inspection or inquiry of both: a. the character and content of any material or performance which is reasonably susceptible of examination by the defendant, and Req. No. 2262 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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 b. the age of the minor. However, an honest mistake, shall constitute an excuse from liability pursuant to this act Section 1040.75 et seq. of this title if the defendant made a reasonable bona fide attempt to ascertain the true age of such minor; 14. “Person” means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity of any kind; and 15. “A reasonable bona fide attempt” means an attempt to ascertain the true age of the minor by requiring production of a driver license, marriage license, birth certificate or other governmental or educational identification card or paper and not relying solely on the oral allegations or apparent age of the minor. SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1040.78 of Title 21, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: A. 1. It shall be unlawful for a commercial entity, as defined in Section 3012 of Title 20 of the Oklahoma Statutes, to knowingly publish or distribute material, more than one-third (1/3) of which is harmful to minors, on the internet from a website or application, including a social media platform, without performing a reasonable age verification method to verify individuals attempting to access the material are eighteen (18) years or older. Reasonable age verification methods include requiring the individual to: a. provide digital identification, or Req. No. 2262 Page 7 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 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 b. comply with a commercial age verification system that verifies in one or more of the following ways: (1) government-issued identification, or (2) any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify the age of the person attempting to access the information. 2. Any commercial entity that is found to have violated paragraph 1 of this subsection shall be liable to the parent or legal guardian of the minor for damages resulting from a minor’s accessing the material, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees. B. 1. A commercial entity or third party that performs the required age verification shall not retain any identifying information of the individual after access has been granted to view the material. 2. A commercial entity that is found to have 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. C. The provisions of this act shall not apply to any scientific, educational, or news media broadcast video, report, or event. Req. No. 2262 Page 8 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 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 D. No interactive computer service provider, as defined in Section 1040.80 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or its affiliates or subsidiaries, or search engine shall be held to have violated the provisions of this act 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 that provider’s control, including transmission, downloading, storage, access software, or other service that provides access of connectivity, to the extent such provider is not responsible for the creation of the content of the communication that constitutes material harmful to minors. SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024. 59-2-2262 CN 1/18/2024 1:25:44 PM