Text of PA HB 2143 (2024)

PRINTER'S NO. 2765 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE BILL No. 2143 Session of 2024 INTRODUCED BY COOPER, PARKER, KAUFFMAN, FLICK, KINSEY, M. BROWN, MARCELL, MUNROE, GREGORY, MIHALEK, KUZMA, CABELL, GILLEN, E. NELSON, CERRATO, LEADBETER, DALEY, DELLOSO, FLEMING, M. JONES, ROWE AND BANTA, MARCH 25, 2024 REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION, TECHNOLOGY AND UTILITIES, MARCH 25, 2024 AN ACT Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in computer offenses, providing for liability for Internet publishers and distributors of material harmful to minors; and making an editorial change. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows: Section 1. Subchapter E heading of Chapter 76 of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes is amended to read: SUBCHAPTER E ELECTRONIC MAIL AND WEBSITE MATERIAL Section 2. Title 18 is amended by adding a section to read: § 7662. Liability for Internet publishers and distributors of material harmful to minors. (a) Duty of commercial entities.--A commercial entity that in the regular course of trade or business hosts or makes available material that is harmful to minors and is provided by the entity with the objective of earning a profit, shall adopt 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 and utilize age verification measures to ensure that minors in this Commonwealth are prevented from accessing material harmful to minors that is hosted or made available on a website by the commercial entity. (b) Prohibited conduct.--Neither the commercial entity described in subsection (a) nor a third party that provides age verification measures under subsection (a) may: (1) keep or retain the personal identifying information of an individual who accesses or views or attempts to access or view material harmful to minors; or (2) share the personal identifying information of an individual who accesses or views or attempts to access or view material harmful to minors with another person. (c) Recovery authorized.--A court of competent jurisdiction may award the following damages for a violation of subsection (a), when a minor accesses or views the material harmful to minors, or subsection (b): (1) Treble damages arising from the violation or $10,000, whichever is greater. (2) Reasonable attorney fees and court costs. (3) Injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant from a continued violation of subsection (a). (4) Additional relief the court deems necessary and proper. (d) Exception.--An Internet service provider, affiliate or subsidiary of an Internet service provider, search engine or cloud service provider does not violate this section solely by 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 20240HB2143PN2765 - 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 25 26 27 28 29 30 transmission, downloading, storing or providing access to the extent that the Internet service provider does not create the content of the communication that constitutes material harmful to minors. (e) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "Age verification measure." Technology that: (1) employs a system or process to determine whether it is more likely than not that a user attempting to access content on a website is an adult; and (2) prevents access by minors to any content that is harmful to minors. "Commercial entity." A corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship or other legally recognized entity that: (1) is engaged in commerce in this Commonwealth; or (2) purposefully avails itself of the market of this Commonwealth or a portion of the market. "Harmful to minors." As defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 5903(e)(6) (relating to obscene and other sexual materials and performances). "Minor." An individual who is under 18 years of age. "Publish." To communicate or make information available to another individual or entity on a publicly accessible Internet website. "Website." A collection of material placed in a computer server-based file archive so that the material is publicly accessible, over the Internet, using hypertext transfer protocol or any successor protocol. 20240HB2143PN2765 - 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 25 26 27 28 29 30 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days. 20240HB2143PN2765 - 4 - 1