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Kim Reynolds
governor
Office of the Governor Chris Cournoyer
LT GOVERNOR
June 01, 2026
The Honorable Paul Pate
Secretary of State of Iowa
State Capitol
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Dear Mr. Secretary,
I hereby transmit:
House File 864, an Act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute
obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.
The above House File is hereby approved on this date.
Sincerely,
Kim ReynoEs
Governor cn Iowa
cc: Secretary of the Senate
Clerk of the House
STATE CAPITOL DES MOINES, IOWA 50319 515.281.5211 WWW.GOVERNOR.IOWA.GOV
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House File 864
AN ACT
REQUIRING PERSONS WHO OPERATE CERTAIN INTERNET SITES,
APPLICATIONS, OR A SEGMENT OF AN INTERNET SITE OR
APPLICATION THAT CONTAINS MATERIAL PORNOGRAPHIC FOR MINORS
TO PERFORM REASONABLE AGE VERIFICATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. NEW SECTION . 554J.1 Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter:
1. '‘'Application" means a software application or electronic
service that a user may run or direct on a mobile device.
2. "Commercial entity" means a legally recognized business
entity .
3. "Digital identification" means information stored on a
digital network that may be accessed by a commercial entity and
that serves as proof of the identity of an individual.
4. "interactive computer service" means the same as defined
in 47 U.S.C. §230.
5. "Minor" means an individual under eighteen years of age.
House File 864, p. 2
6. "Mobile device" means a device described by all of the
following :
a. The device is small enough to be held and operated in
hand .
b. The device provides a cellular or wireless connection to
the internet.
c. The device has the ability to run an application.
7. "News-gathering organization" means any of the following:
a. An employee of a newspaper, news publication, or other
commercial entity with the primary purpose of serving as a
source of current news and public interest stories, who is
acting within the course and scope of that employment and can
provide documentation of that employment.
b. An employee of a radio broadcast station, television
broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service
who is acting within the course and scope of that employment
and can provide documentation of that employment.
8. "Pornographic for minors" means material or a performance
described by all of the following:
a. The average person, applying contemporary community
standards, would find that the material or performance, taken
as a whole, has a tendency to cater or appeal to a prurient
interest of minors.
b. The material or performance depicts nudity, sexual
conduct, the condition of human genitals when in a state of
sexual stimulation or arousal, or sadomasochistic abuse in a
way which is patently offensive to the average person applying
contemporary adult community standards with respect to what is
suitable for minors.
c. The material or performance, taken as a whole, lacks
serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for
minors .
9. "Provider " means all of the following:
a. An internet service provider.
b. A cloud service provider.
c. A wireless service provider.
d. An internet search engine.
e. An information service as defined in 47 U.S.C. §153.
f, A telecommunications service as defined in 47 U.S.C.
House File 864, p. 3
§153.
g. A cable service as defined in 47 U.S.C. §522.
h. An affiliate or a subsidiary of an entity listed in
paragraphs "a" through "g".
10. '’'Substantial portion" means thirty-three percent or more
of the total amount of data publicly available on an internet
site or application.
11. "Transactional data" means a sequence of information
that documents an exchange, agreement, or transfer between an
individual, commercial entity, or third party.
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 554J.2 Age verification.
1. A person shall not operate an internet site, an
application, or a segment of an internet site or application,
including on a social media platform, that contains a
substantial portion of content pornographic for minors unless
the person uses reasonable age verification to prevent minors
from accessing such content.
2. Reasonable age verification shall include any of the
following :
a. Requiring an individual to provide digital
identification .
b. A method that is commercially reasonable given a person's
scope of business and that relies on transactional data to
verify an individual's age.
c. A method approved by the attorney general by rule.
3. A person that performs reasonable age verification under
this section, including a third party that contracts with a
person to perform reasonable age verification for the person,
shall not retain, sell, lease, or otherwise disseminate any
identifying information of an individual subject to reasonable
age verification unless retention or dissemination of the
identifying information is required by law or a court order.
4. A person that performs reasonable age verification
under this section, including a third party that contracts
with a person to perform reasonable age verification for the
person, shall use reasonable methods given the person's scope
of business to secure all data collected and transmitted under
this section.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 554J.3 Limitations.
House File 864, p. 4
1. This chapter shall not apply to any of the following:
a. A bona fide news or public interest broadcast, news
recording, report, or event.
b. A news-gathering organization.
c. An internet service provider, an internet service
provider's affiliates and subsidiaries, a search engine,
or a cloud service provider solely for providing access or
connection to an internet site or other information or content
on the internet, in a facility, on a system, or on a network
not under the internet service provider's, affiliate's,
subsidiary's, search engine's, or cloud service provider's
control. This subsection shall not apply if the internet
service provider, affiliate, subsidiary, search engine, or
cloud service provider was responsible for the creation of the
content pornographic for minors.
2. This chapter shall not be construed to impose liability
on a user of an interactive computer service on the internet.
3. This chapter shall not be construed to impose liability
on a provider solely for providing access or connection to
an internet site, system, or network that contains material
pornographic for minors provided that the internet site,
system, or network is not under the provider's control. For
purposes of this subsection, "access or connection" includes
but is not limited to transmitting, downloading, providing
intermediate storage for, and providing access software for
data.
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 554J.4 Enforcement and penalties.
1. The attorney general shall enforce this chapter, seek
injunctions for violations of this chapter, and bring actions
against a person thought to be in violation of this chapter.
2. Each time an individual accesses an internet site
or application not in compliance with this chapter shall
constitute a separate violation.
3. a. A violation of this chapter is punishable by a civil
penalty of up to one thousand dollars per violation. A person
in violation of this chapter shall not accrue civil penalties
of more than ten thousand dollars in a single day.
b. Civil penalties collected under this section shall be
deposited into the general fund of the state.
House File 864, p. 5
Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 554 J. 5 Rules.
The attorney general shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter
17A to implement and administer this chapter.
Jû PAT GRASSLEY AMY SINCE^IR
Speaker or the House President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 864, Ninety-first General Assembly.
Approve , 2026
MEGHAN NELSON
Chiaf ClerK of the House
KIM REYNOLDS I
Governor