HB581 - Relating to the creation of artificial sexual material harmful to minors.

      H.B. No. 581         AN ACT   relating to the creation of artificial sexual material harmful to   minors.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  The heading to Chapter 129B, Civil Practice and   Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:   CHAPTER 129B.  LIABILITY RELATED TO SEXUAL MATERIAL HARMFUL TO [ FOR   ALLOWING ] MINORS [ TO ACCESS PORNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL ]          SECTION 2.  Section 129B.001, Civil Practice and Remedies   Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision   (1-a) to read as follows:                (1)   "Artificial sexual material harmful to minors"   means computer-generated sexual material harmful to minors that was   produced, adapted, or modified using an artificial intelligence   application or other computer software in which a person is   recognizable as an actual person by the person's face, likeness, or   other distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique birthmark or   other recognizable feature.                 (1-a)   "Commercial entity" includes a corporation,   limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole   proprietorship, or other legally recognized business entity.          SECTION 3.  The heading to Section 129B.002, Civil Practice   and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:          Sec. 129B.002.  PUBLICATION AND CREATION OF MATERIAL HARMFUL   TO MINORS.           SECTION 4.  Section 129B.002, Civil Practice and Remedies   Code, is amended by adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and amending   Subsection (b) to read as follows:           (a-1)     Except as provided by Subsection (a-2), a commercial   entity that operates an Internet website with a publicly   accessible tool for creating artificial sexual material harmful to   minors or otherwise makes publicly available an application for   creating sexual material harmful to minors shall use reasonable age   verification methods as described by Section 129B.003 to verify an   individual attempting to access the tool is 18 years of age or   older.           (a-2)     Subsection (a-1) does not apply to a commercial entity   that:                 (1)     includes a prohibition against the generation of   artificial sexual material harmful to minors in the entity's terms   and conditions or use policies that must be acknowledged before a   user is granted access; and                 (2)     takes affirmative steps to limit the creation of   artificial sexual material harmful to minors through technological   tools such as training an application or software creating   artificial images to identify likely sexual material, providing   effective reporting tools, filtering likely sexual material,   filtering sexually explicit content generated by artificial   intelligence before the material is shown to users, or filtering   sexually explicit images from the entity's artificial intelligence   dataset before the dataset is used to train the artificial   intelligence.          (b)  A commercial entity that performs the age verification   required by Subsection (a) or (a-1) or a third party that performs   the age verification required by Subsection (a) or (a-1) may not   retain any identifying information of the individual.          SECTION 5.  Section 129B.003(b), Civil Practice and Remedies   Code, is amended to read as follows:          (b)  A commercial entity required to use reasonable age   verification methods under Section 129B.002 [ that knowingly and   intentionally publishes or distributes material on an Internet   website ] or a third party that performs age verification under this   chapter shall require an individual to:                (1)  provide digital identification; or                (2)  comply with a commercial age verification system   that verifies age using:                      (A)  government-issued identification; or                      (B)  a commercially reasonable method that relies   on public or private transactional data to verify the age of an   individual.          SECTION 6.  Chapter 129B, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,   is amended by adding Section 129B.0045 to read as follows:           Sec.   129B.0045.     REQUIREMENTS FOR SOURCES OF ARTIFICIAL   SEXUAL MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS. (a)   Except as provided by   Subsection (b), a commercial entity that operates an Internet   website with a publicly accessible tool for creating artificial   sexual material harmful to minors or otherwise makes publicly   available an application for creating artificial sexual material   harmful to minors shall ensure that an individual used as a source   for the material:                 (1)  is 18 years of age or older; and                 (2)     has consented to the use of the individual's face   and body as a source for the material.           (b)     This section does not apply to a commercial entity   described by Section 129B.002(a-2).          SECTION 7.  Section 129B.005(b), Civil Practice and Remedies   Code, is amended to read as follows:          (b)  An Internet service provider, or its affiliates or   subsidiaries, a search engine, or a cloud service provider may not   be held to have violated this chapter solely for providing access or   connection to or from a website or other information or content on   the Internet or on a facility, system, or network not under that   provider's control, including transmission, downloading,   intermediate storage, access software, or other services to the   extent the provider or search engine is not responsible for the   creation of the content that constitutes sexual material harmful to   minors or artificial sexual material harmful to minors .          SECTION 8.  Section 129B.006(b), Civil Practice and Remedies   Code, is amended to read as follows:          (b)  A civil penalty imposed under this section for a   violation of Section 129B.002 , [ or ] 129B.003 , or 129B.0045 may be   in an amount equal to not more than the total, if applicable, of:                (1)  $10,000 per day that the entity operates an   Internet website or makes available an application in violation of   the age verification requirements of this chapter;                (2)  $10,000 per instance when the entity retains   identifying information in violation of Section 129B.002(b); and                (3)  if, because of the entity's violation of the age   verification requirements of this chapter, one or more minors   accesses sexual material harmful to minors, an additional amount of   not more than $250,000.          SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.       ______________________________ ______________________________      President of the Senate Speaker of the House                   I certify that H.B. No. 581 was passed by the House on April   24, 2025, by the following vote:  Yeas 146, Nays 0, 2 present, not   voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.   No. 581 on May 28, 2025, by the following vote:  Yeas 133, Nays 1, 2   present, not voting.     ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House               I certify that H.B. No. 581 was passed by the Senate, with   amendments, on May 22, 2025, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays   0.     ______________________________   Secretary of the Senate      APPROVED: __________________                   Date                       __________________                 Governor