Bill would make adult websites verify consent and age of people shown, with fines of $10,000 a day

A new section 44-7302 would set verification, record-keeping, and prevention duties for commercial entities that publish or distribute sexual material online. It covers commercial entities that knowingly and intentionally publish or distribute, or allow others to publish or distribute, sexual material on a website, and the people who upload it. Uploaders must verify, using reasonable methods, explicit informed consent to creation, distribution, and publication and that each person was at least 18; or that the material was created before the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988, shown by an affidavit, publication or copyright records, metadata, or other evidence. The entity must keep verification records for at least seven years and take reasonable steps, including automated detection tools where feasible, to stop uploads without verified consent. Reasonable verification methods may not require or allow a government-issued digital ID system. Verification records must be kept for at least seven years.

The section sets civil penalties and lets the Attorney General or a depicted person who did not consent bring a civil action. It covers commercial entities that publish or distribute sexual material without following the verification rules, and the Attorney General and depicted individuals who sue. Penalties include $10,000 for each day of the violation, actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees, and additional relief such as injunctions. The Attorney General may also seek civil penalties of up to $250,000 if a minor is shown, on top of any penalty under section 13-3553. The section does not apply to news or public-interest publications, material for bona fide scientific, medical, or educational purposes, or internet service providers, search engines, and cloud providers that only provide access and do not directly host or create the material. The $10,000 penalty applies for each day of the violation.

The act defines synthetic depictions and adds an exemption for clearly manipulated parody, comedy, artistic, and public-concern images to the existing crime of unlawfully disclosing nude or sexual images (section 13-1425). It covers images made or changed with artificial intelligence or other technology that look like a real, identifiable person, and anyone charged with unlawfully disclosing images. The exemption applies only if it is clear to a reasonable viewer that the image is both digitally manipulated and made for parody, comedy, artistic expression, or criticism of matters of public concern. The existing crime stays a class 5 felony, a class 4 felony if disclosed by electronic means, and a class 1 misdemeanor for a threat to disclose or for a realistic pictorial representation.