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HB2133 - 572R - C Ver
Conference Engrossed
sexual material;
consent; synthetic depiction
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2133
AN
ACT
amending section 13-1425, Arizona
Revised Statutes; providing for transferring and RENUMBERING; amending title
44, chapter 30, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, as TRANSFERRED and
renumbered, by adding section 44-7302; relating to the disclosure of
sexual material.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 13-1425, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
13-1425.
Unlawful disclosure of images depicting states of nudity or
specific sexual activities; classification; definitions
A. It is unlawful for a person to intentionally
disclose an image of another person who is identifiable from the image itself
or from information displayed in connection with the image if all of the
following apply:
1. The person in the image is depicted in a state of
nudity or is engaged in specific sexual activities.
2. The depicted person has a reasonable expectation
of privacy. Evidence that a person has sent an image to another person using an
electronic device does not, on its own, remove the person's reasonable
expectation of privacy for that image. Unless the realistic
pictorial representation is created or modified by the depicted person, this
paragraph does not apply to an image that is a realistic pictorial
representation.
3. The image is disclosed with the intent to harm,
harass, intimidate, threaten or coerce the depicted person.
B. This section does not apply to any of the
following:
1. The reporting of unlawful conduct.
2. Lawful and common practices of law enforcement,
criminal reporting, legal proceedings or medical treatment.
3. Images involving voluntary exposure in a public
or commercial setting.
4. An interactive computer service, as defined in 47
United States Code section 230(f)(2), or an information service or cable
service, as defined in 47 United States Code section 153, with regard to
content wholly provided by another party.
5. Any disclosure that is made with the consent of
the person who is depicted in the image.
C. THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY IF IT
IS CLEAR TO A REASONABLE VIEWER THAT THE IMAGE, RECORDING OR VIDEO HAS BEEN
BOTH:
1. DIGITALLY MANIPULATED.
2. CREATED FOR THE PURPOSES OF ANY OF
THE FOLLOWING:
(
a
) PARODY.
(
b
) COMEDY.
(
c
) ARTISTIC
EXPRESSION.
(
d
) CRITICISM
OF MATTERS OF PUBLIC CONCERN.
C.
d.
A
violation of this section is a class 5 felony, except that a violation of this section
is a:
1. Class 4 felony if the image is disclosed by
electronic means.
2. Class 1 misdemeanor if a person threatens to
disclose but does not disclose an image that if disclosed would be a violation
of this section or if the image is a realistic pictorial representation.
D.
e.
For
the purposes of this section:
1. "Disclose" means display, distribute,
publish, advertise or offer.
2. "Disclosed by electronic means" means
delivery to an email address, mobile device, tablet or other electronic device
and includes disclosure on a website.
3. "Harm" means physical injury, financial
injury or serious emotional distress.
4. "Identifiable person"
means a person who is recognizable by any person, including the person himself,
by any part of the person or by any other information that is part of the
depiction.
4.
5.
"Image"
means a photograph, videotape, film, digital recording or realistic pictorial
representation.
5.
6.
"Realistic
pictorial representation":
(a) Means an image that is created or modified to
reasonably appear to be an actual image of an identifiable person depicted in a
state of nudity or engaged in specific sexual activities that did not actually
occur.
(b) Does not include an image made in the public
interest, including scientific or educational activities, a newsworthy event or
an issue of public concern.
6.
7.
"Reasonable
expectation of privacy" means the person exhibits an actual expectation of
privacy and the expectation is reasonable.
7.
8.
"Specific
sexual activities" has the same meaning prescribed in section 11-811,
subsection E, paragraph 18, subdivisions (a) and (b).
8.
9.
"State
of nudity" has the same meaning prescribed in section 11-811,
subsection E, paragraph 14, subdivision (a).
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2.
Heading change;
transfer and renumber
A. The chapter heading of
title 18, chapter 7, Arizona Revised Statutes, is changed from "
government information technology use"
to "
sexual material on the
internet".
B. Title 18, chapter 7,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is transferred and renumbered for placement in title
44, Arizona Revised Statutes, as chapter 30. Title 18, chapter 7,
article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is transferred and renumbered for
placement in title 44, chapter 30, Arizona Revised Statutes, as article
1. Section 18-701, Arizona Revised Statutes, is transferred
and renumbered for placement in title 44, chapter 30, article 1, Arizona
Revised Statutes, as section 44-7301.
Sec. 3. Title
44, chapter 30, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, as transferred and
renumbered, is amended by adding section 44-7302, to read:
START_STATUTE
44-7302.
Sexual material on the internet; verification and consent
requirements; records; applicability; civil penalties; definitions
A. A
commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes,
and allows the publication or distribution of, sexual material on an
internet website shall do all of the following:
1. Require each person who uploads or
places the sexual material on an internet website to verify, using reasonable
verification methods, EITHER of the following:
(
a
) that each
individual who is depicted in the sexual material has provided explicit
informed consent to the creation, distribution and publication of the sexual
material and Was at least eighteen years of age at the time the sexual material
was created.
(
b
) That the
sexual material was created before the enactment of the child protection and
obscenity enforcement act of 1988 (P.L. 100-690; 102 STAT. 4485) by using
any of the following:
(
i
) An
affidavit from the uploader or custodian of records.
(
ii
) Contemporaneous
publication or copyright records.
(
iii
) Technical
metadata.
(
iv
) Any other
evidence that reasonably establishes the date the sexual material was first
fixed in a tangible medium.
2. Maintain records of the
verification for at least seven years.
3. Implement reasonable measures to
prevent the uploading of sexual material that does not have verified consent,
including using automated detection tools where feasible.
B. This section does not apply to any
of the following:
1. A news or public interest
broadcast or publication.
2. Material that is distributed for
bona fide scientific, medical or educational purposes.
3. An internet service provider, an
internet service provider's affiliates or subsidiaries, a search engine or a
cloud service provider that solely provides access or a connection to or from a
website or other information or content on the internet or on a facility,
system or network that is not under that internet service provider's control,
including transmission, downloading, intermediate storage, access software or
other services to the extent that the internet service provider, search engine
or cloud service provider is not responsible for the creation or direct hosting
of the sexual material.
4. A motion picture that was produced
before the effective date of this section and that was rated by the motion
picture association or its predecessor, the motion picture association of
america.
5. A television program or television
series that was produced before the effective date of this section.
C. A commercial entity that publishes
or distributes sexual material on an internet website without complying with
subsection A of this section and in violation of this section is subject to:
1. A civil penalty of $10,000 for
each day of the violation.
2. Actual damages.
3. Costs and reasonable attorney
fees.
4. Additional relief, including
injunctive relief.
D. This section does not apply if it
is clear to a reasonable viewer that the image, recording or video has been
both:
1. Digitally manipulated.
2. Created for the purposes of any of
the following:
(
a
) Parody.
(
b
) Comedy.
(
c
) Artistic
impression.
(
d
) Criticism
of matters of public concern.
E. The attorney general may bring an
action to enforce this section and, in addition to any penalty provided for in
section 13-3553, may seek civil penalties of up to $250,000 if a minor is
depicted in the sexual material that is published or distributed in violation
of this section.
F. The following persons may bring a
civil action pursuant to this section:
1. The attorney general.
2. An individual who is depicted in
the sexual material and who did not consent to the depiction.
G. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Commercial entity" has
the same meaning prescribed in section 44-7301.
2. "Consent" means
affirmative, conscious and voluntary authorization that is given by an
individual and that is documented and verifiable.
3. "Direct hosting":
(
a
) Means
storing sexual material on servers, systems or networks that are controlled or
operated by the commercial entity where the commercial entity enables users to
upload the material and makes the material accessible for viewing, downloading,
sharing or distribution by other users or the public through the entity's
website, application or platform.
(
b
) Does not include any
of the following:
(
i
) Transitory
digital network COMMUNICATIONS or the mere provision of internet connectivity
or access.
(
ii
) System
caching or intermediate storage that is incidental to transmission.
(
iii
) Information
location tools, including search engines, that only index, link to or reference
content that is hosted by a third party without storing the material on the
commercial entity's controlled systems.
4. "Distribute" has the
same meaning prescribed in section 44-7301.
5. "Identifiable
individual" means a person who is recognizable by any person, including
the person himself, by any part of the person or by any other information that
is part of the depiction.
6. "Publish" has the same
meaning prescribed in section 44-7301.
7. "Reasonable verification
methods":
(
a
) Means any
commercially reasonable method that is regularly used by businesses to verify
consent, age or the date the sexual material was created, without requiring or
allowing the use of any government-issued digital identification system.
(
b
) Includes:
(
i
) An
affidavit that attests to the consent and age of each depicted person or that
attests to the date the sexual material was created if the sexual material was
created before the enactment of the child protection and obscenity enforcement
act of 1988 (P.L. 100-690; 102 STAT. 4485).
(
ii
) A
verification through an independent third party.
(
iii
) Any other
commercially reasonable method.
8. "Sexual material"
includes sexual material that is harmful to minors as defined in section 44-7301
and may include A synthetic depiction.
9. "Synthetic depiction"
means any visual depiction that is created or altered through the use of
artificial intelligence, digital manipulation or other technology and that
appears to depict an identifiable individual but that does not represent an
actual event or conduct involving that individual.
10. "Television program or
television series" means a reoccurring or episodic production that is
intended in its pilot or initial run to be broadcast on a free or subscription
television service, cable, satellite or streaming platform and that has a
running time of twenty minutes or more in length, including commercial
advertisement and interstitial programming.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 4.
Severability
If a provision of this act or its
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does
not affect other provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of
this act are severable.
Sec. 5.
Short title
This act may be cited as the
"Protect Act".