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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1878
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE REUTER.
5376H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 537, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to civil liability for
publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the internet, with an
emer gency clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 537, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 537.104, to read as follows:
537.104. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Commerci al entity", includes corporations, limited liability companies,
3 partnerships, limited partnerships, sole prop rietorships, or other legally r ecognized
4 entities;
5 (2) "Distribute", to issue, sell, give, provi de, deliver , transfer , transmute,
6 cir culate, or disseminate by any means;
7 (3) "Internet", the international computer network of both federal and
8 nonfederal interop erable packet-switched data networks;
9 (4) "Material harmful to minors", all of the following:
10 (a) Any material that the average person, applying contemporary community
11 standards, would find taking the material as a whole and with res pect to minors is
12 designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interes t;
13 (b) Any of the following material that exploits, is devoted to, or principally
14 consists of descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction of any of
15 the following, in a manner patently offensive with res pect to minors:
16 a. Pubic hair , anus, vulva, genitals, or nipple of the female breast ;
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 b. T ouching, cares sing, or fondling of nipples, br easts, buttocks, anuses, or
18 genitals; or
19 c. Sexual inter course, masturbation, sodomy , bestiality , oral copulation,
20 flagellation, excret ory functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act; and
21 (c) The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary , artistic, political, or
22 scientific value for minors;
23 (5) "Minor", any person under eighteen years of age;
24 (6) "News-gathering organization", any of the following:
25 (a) An employee of a newspaper , news publication, or news source, printed or on
26 an online or mobile platform, of curren t news and public interes t, while operating as an
27 employee as prov ided in this paragraph, who can pr ovide documentation of such
28 employment with the newspaper , news publication, or news source; or
29 (b) An employee of a radio br oadcast station, television br oadcast station, cable
30 television operator , or wire service while operating as an employee as pr ovided in this
31 paragraph, who can prov ide documentation of such employment;
32 (7) "Publish", to communicate or make material available to another person or
33 entity on a publicly available internet website;
34 (8) "Reasonable age-verification methods", any commerc ially available database
35 that is re gularly used by businesses or governmental entities for the purpose of age and
36 identity verification, or any other commer cially reas onable method of age and identity
37 verification.
38 2. (1) Any commer cial entity for which it is in the r egular course of trade or
39 business to publish or distribute in this state a website in which thirty-thre e per cent or
40 mor e of total material on the website is material harmful to minors shall be held liable if
41 the entity fails to perform reas onable age-verification methods to verify the age of
42 individuals attempting to access the material.
43 (2) The age-verification pr ovider shall not ret ain any identifying information of
44 the individual after access has been granted or denied to the material.
45 (3) (a) Any commer cial entity that is found to have violated this section shall be
46 liable to an individual for damages res ulting fro m a minor accessing the material,
47 including court costs and rea sonable attorney's fees as order ed by the court.
48 (b) A commer cial entity that is found to have knowingly ret ained identifying
49 information of the individual after access has been granted to the individual shall be
50 liable to the individual for damages re sulting fro m r etaining the identifying
5 1 information, including court costs and reas onable attorney's fees as order ed by the
52 court.
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53 3. (1) The provi sions of this section shall not apply to any bona fide news or
54 public interes t br oadcast, website video, report, or event and shall not be construed to
55 affect the rights of any news-gathering organizations.
56 (2) No internet service provi der or its affiliates or subsidiaries, sear ch engine, or
57 cloud service pr ovider shall be held to have violated the provi sions of this section for
58 pr oviding access or connection to or fr om a website or other information or content on
59 the internet or a facility , system, or network not under that prov ider's control, including
60 transmission, downloading, storage, access software, or other to the extent such
61 pr ovider is not r esponsible for the creat ion of the content of the communication that
62 constitutes material harmful to minors.
Section B. Because immediate action is necessary to protect the safety of children,
2 section A of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health,
3 welfare, peace, and safety , and is hereby declared to be an emer gency act within the meaning
4 of the constitution, and section A of this act shall be in full force and ef fect upon its passage
5 and approval.
✔
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