Smartphone and tablet setup would turn on filters for minors

Covered devices activated in New Hampshire would need a filter and an age check; the filter would turn on automatically when the user reports being a minor. This applies to smartphones and tablets made on or after the chapter’s effective date when activated in New Hampshire. The filter must be able to block obscene material through browsers or search engines owned or controlled by the manufacturer. An adult with the password could turn the filter off or back on. The act would take effect January 1, 2026.

Parents or guardians could sue in certain cases, and the attorney general could bring an action against a manufacturer whose device fails to meet the filter rules. Parents or legal guardians could bring the private lawsuits; the attorney general action applies to manufacturers. A parent or guardian could sue over intentional filter disabling only if a minor then accesses obscene material. A suit could also target a manufacturer whose violation enables access, if a minor does access it. A winning plaintiff could receive actual damages or, when those are hard to measure, set damages, plus attorney fees, court costs, and punitive damages. Retailers cannot be sued under this chapter. A manufacturer’s demonstrable efforts and reasonable belief that it complied are a defense to an attorney general action.

A person or manufacturer who intentionally disables a filter with the required intent could face a class B felony. This applies to a person or manufacturer who disables a filter on a covered device. The person must intend to allow a minor to access obscene material, and a minor must in fact access it. The device must be one a minor possesses or could reasonably and foreseeably possess.