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SF443 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.(Formerly SF 207 .)

A bill for an act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.(Formerly SF 207 .)

Technology
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY
Last action
2025-06-16
Official status
Referred to Technology. S.J. 1057 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.(Formerly SF 207 .)

A bill for an act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.(Formerly SF 207 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.(Formerly SF 207 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-06-16 Iowa Legislature

    Referred to Technology. S.J. 1057 .

  2. 2025-04-03 Iowa Legislature

    Placed on calendar under unfinished business. S.J. 689 .

  3. 2025-03-24 Iowa Legislature

    Attached to HF 864 . S.J. 607 .

  4. 2025-02-26 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 371 .

  5. 2025-02-26 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 363 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to certain commercial entities who publish or distribute obscene material on the internet, and providing civil penalties.(Formerly SF 207 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

443

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

443

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

TECHNOLOGY

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SF

207)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

certain

commercial

entities

who

publish

or

1

distribute

obscene

material

on

the

internet,

and

providing

2

civil

penalties.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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443

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.1

Definitions.

1

For

purposes

of

this

chapter:

2

1.

a.

“Covered

platform”

means

a

commercial

entity

for

3

which

it

is

in

the

regular

course

of

the

trade

or

business

of

4

the

entity

to

create,

host,

or

make

available,

on

the

internet,

5

obscene

material

provided

by

the

entity,

a

user,

or

other

6

information

content

provider.

7

b.

For

purposes

of

this

subsection,

the

presence

alone

of

8

obscene

material

on

a

commercial

entity’s

internet

site

shall

9

not

be

construed

to

mean

that

the

commercial

entity’s

regular

10

course

of

trade

or

business

is

creating,

hosting,

or

making

11

available

obscene

material

on

the

internet.

When

determining

12

whether

a

commercial

entity’s

regular

course

of

trade

or

13

business

is

creating,

hosting,

or

making

available

obscene

14

material

on

the

internet,

a

court

shall

consider

all

of

the

15

following:

16

(1)

The

amount

of

data

that

constitutes

obscene

material

on

17

the

commercial

entity’s

internet

site.

18

(2)

The

amount

of

data

that

constitutes

obscene

material

19

on

the

commercial

entity’s

internet

site

in

proportion

to

the

20

total

amount

of

data

on

the

commercial

entity’s

internet

site.

21

(3)

The

amount

of

user

traffic

to

obscene

material

on

the

22

commercial

entity’s

internet

site.

23

(4)

The

amount

of

user

traffic

to

obscene

material

on

the

24

commercial

entity’s

internet

site

in

proportion

to

all

user

25

traffic

on

the

commercial

entity’s

internet

site.

26

(5)

The

amount

of

revenue

the

commercial

entity

obtains

from

27

obscene

material

on

the

commercial

entity’s

internet

site.

28

(6)

The

amount

of

revenue

the

commercial

entity

generates

29

from

obscene

material

on

the

commercial

entity’s

internet

site

30

in

proportion

to

all

revenues

the

commercial

entity

generates.

31

(7)

Any

other

factor

the

court

deems

relevant.

32

2.

“Identifying

information”

means

any

representation

of

33

information

that

permits

the

identity

of

an

individual

to

whom

34

the

information

applies

to

be

reasonably

inferred

by

either

35

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443

direct

or

indirect

means.

1

3.

“Information

content

provider”

means

the

same

as

defined

2

in

47

U.S.C.

§230.

3

4.

“Interactive

computer

service”

means

the

same

as

defined

4

in

47

U.S.C.

§230.

5

5.

“Obscene

material”

means

the

same

as

defined

in

section

6

728.1.

7

6.

“Provider”

means

all

of

the

following:

8

a.

An

internet

service

provider.

9

b.

A

cloud

service

provider.

10

c.

A

wireless

service

provider.

11

d.

An

internet

search

engine.

12

e.

An

information

service

as

defined

in

47

U.S.C.

§153.

13

f.

A

telecommunications

service

as

defined

in

47

U.S.C.

14

§153.

15

g.

A

cable

service

as

defined

in

47

U.S.C.

§522.

16

h.

An

affiliate

or

a

subsidiary

of

an

entity

listed

in

17

paragraph

“a”

through

“g”

.

18

7.

“Reasonable

age

verification”

means

verifying

the

age

of

19

an

individual

by

using

any

of

the

following

methods:

20

a.

Government-issued

identification.

21

b.

Financial

documents

or

other

documents

that

are

reliable

22

proxies

for

age.

23

c.

Any

other

commercially

reasonable

and

reliable

method.

24

Sec.

2.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.2

Publication

and

distribution

25

of

obscene

material

on

the

internet

——

age

verification

——

civil

26

liability.

27

1.

A

covered

platform

shall

be

held

liable

if

the

covered

28

platform

fails

to

perform

reasonable

age

verification

of

29

individuals

attempting

to

access

obscene

material

published

or

30

distributed

by

the

covered

platform.

31

2.

Reasonable

age

verification

required

under

subsection

32

1

may

be

performed

by

a

third

party

subject

to

state

33

jurisdiction,

and

may

employ

cryptographic

techniques

such

34

as

zero

knowledge

proofs

to

preserve

anonymity

and

protect

35

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443

privacy.

1

3.

a.

A

covered

platform

or

third

party

that

performs

the

2

reasonable

age

verification

required

under

subsection

1

shall

3

not

retain

an

individual’s

identifying

information

after

the

4

covered

platform

or

third

party

completes

the

individual’s

5

reasonable

age

verification.

6

b.

A

covered

platform

or

third

party

that

performs

the

7

reasonable

age

verification

required

under

subsection

1

shall

8

not

distribute,

sell,

or

otherwise

disseminate

an

individual’s

9

identifying

information

obtained

through

the

covered

platform’s

10

or

third

party’s

performance

of

reasonable

age

verification.

11

Sec.

3.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.3

Enforcement

——

penalties.

12

1.

If

the

attorney

general

has

reasonable

belief

that

a

13

covered

platform,

or

third

party

performing

reasonable

age

14

verification,

is

in

violation

of

this

chapter,

the

attorney

15

general

has

the

sole

authority

to

bring

civil

action

to

provide

16

for

all

of

the

following:

17

a.

Enjoinment

of

further

violations

by

the

covered

platform

18

or

third

party

performing

reasonable

age

verification.

19

b.

Enforcement

of

compliance

with

this

chapter.

20

c.

Assessment

of

civil

penalties

in

an

amount

not

more

than

21

ten

thousand

dollars

for

each

violation

of

this

chapter.

22

d.

Other

remedies

permitted

under

law.

23

2.

If

the

attorney

general

has

reasonable

belief

that

a

24

covered

platform,

or

third

party

performing

reasonable

age

25

verification,

is

in

violation

of

an

injunction

issued

under

26

this

section,

the

attorney

general

has

the

sole

authority

to

27

bring

civil

action

to

provide

for

civil

penalties

in

an

amount

28

not

more

than

one

hundred

thousand

dollars.

29

3.

An

individual

that

has

knowledge

of

a

violation

of

this

30

chapter

may

report

the

violation

to

the

attorney

general.

31

4.

The

attorney

general

shall

establish

an

electronic

32

reporting

system

for

the

submission

of

reports

pursuant

to

this

33

section.

34

Sec.

4.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.4

Limitations

on

liability.

35

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443

1.

This

chapter

shall

not

be

construed

to

impose

liability

1

on

a

user

of

an

interactive

computer

service

on

the

internet.

2

2.

This

chapter

shall

not

be

construed

to

impose

liability

3

on

a

provider

solely

for

providing

access

or

connection

to

4

a

covered

platform,

or

to

obscene

material

on

an

internet

5

site

or

in

a

facility,

system,

or

network

not

under

the

6

provider’s

control.

For

purposes

of

this

subsection,

“access

7

or

connection”

includes

but

is

not

limited

to

transmitting,

8

downloading,

providing

intermediate

storage

for,

and

providing

9

access

software

for

data.

10

EXPLANATION

11

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

12

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

13

This

bill

relates

to

certain

commercial

entities

who

publish

14

or

distribute

certain

material

on

the

internet.

15

The

bill

defines

“covered

platform”,

“identifying

16

information”,

“information

content

provider”,

“interactive

17

computer

service”,

“obscene

material”,

“provider”,

and

18

“reasonable

age

verification”.

19

The

bill

makes

a

covered

platform

liable

if

the

covered

20

platform

fails

to

perform

reasonable

age

verification

of

21

individuals

attempting

to

access

obscene

material

published

22

or

distributed

by

the

covered

platform.

Reasonable

23

age

verification

includes

the

use

of

government-issued

24

identification,

financial

documents

or

other

documents

that

25

are

reliable

proxies

for

age,

or

any

other

commercially

26

reasonable

and

reliable

method.

Reasonable

age

verification

27

may

be

performed

by

a

third

party

subject

to

state

jurisdiction

28

(third

party),

and

the

bill

permits

the

use

of

cryptographic

29

techniques

to

preserve

anonymity

and

protect

privacy.

A

30

covered

platform

or

third

party

is

prohibited

from

retaining

31

an

individual’s

identifying

information

after

completing

32

the

individual’s

reasonable

age

verification,

and

from

33

distributing,

selling,

or

disseminating

an

individual’s

34

identifying

information

obtained

through

the

performance

of

35

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reasonable

age

verification.

1

The

bill’s

provisions

are

not

to

be

construed

as

to

impose

2

liability

on

a

user

of

an

interactive

computer

service

on

the

3

internet.

4

The

bill’s

provisions

are

not

to

be

construed

as

to

impose

5

liability

on

a

provider

solely

for

providing

access

or

6

connection

to

a

covered

platform,

or

to

obscene

material

on

an

7

internet

site

or

in

a

facility,

system,

or

network

not

under

8

the

provider’s

control.

9

If

the

attorney

general

has

reasonable

belief

that

a

covered

10

platform,

or

third

party,

is

in

violation

of

the

bill,

the

11

attorney

general

may

bring

a

civil

action

to

enjoin

further

12

violations,

enforce

compliance

with

the

bill,

assess

a

civil

13

penalty

in

an

amount

not

more

than

$10,000

for

each

violation,

14

and

provide

other

remedies

permitted

by

law.

If

the

attorney

15

general

has

reasonable

belief

that

a

covered

platform,

or

third

16

party,

is

in

violation

of

an

injunction

issued

under

the

bill,

17

the

attorney

general

may

bring

a

civil

action

to

provide

for

18

civil

penalties

in

an

amount

not

more

than

$100,000.

19

The

bill

allows

individuals

with

knowledge

of

a

violation

to

20

report

the

violation

to

the

attorney

general,

and

requires

the

21

attorney

general

to

establish

an

electronic

reporting

system

22

for

the

submission

of

reports

of

violations

of

the

bill.

23

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