Texas

Digital service providers that primarily generate content related to news, sports, or commerce with chat and interactive functionality that is incidental to the digital service; emails and messing services.

Does not apply to state agencies or divisions; entities regulated by HHS; SBA-defined “small businesses.”

Age registration
(minor)

Age verification
(parent)

• Provide parental supervision tools (privacy settings, time limits, purchase restrictions, access and deletion) and mechanism to verify parents’ identity before allowing access to such tools
• [Preliminary Enjoined] Prohibition on targeted advertising;
• Prohibition on precise geolocation; sharing or selling minor’s PI, unless settings modified by verified parent
• [Preliminary Enjoined] Prevent exposure to harmful materials (content that promotes suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, stalking, bullying or harassment; or grooming, trafficking, or other sexual exploitation), through filtering technology, human-performed monitoring reviews, etc.

• Enforcement by TX AG as deceptive act or practice under Chapter 17(e), which provides for injunction, civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and actual damages
• Private right of action brought by parent or guardian to seek declaratory judgment or an injunction
• No class action rights

Sensitive data includes personal data collected from a known child <13.

Must conduct a risk assessment for processing sensitive PI.

No specified penalty change if violation involves a child.

No private right of action.

Reasonable age verification methods require:

• digital identification;
• comply with a commercial age verification system that verifies age using:
  • government issued ID; or
  • a commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data (i.e., including records mortgage, education and employment records) to verify the age of the person.

Note: A requirement to post a “Sexual Explicit Health Warning” was enjoined and severed from rest of statute.

Attorney General Enforcement: Civil penalties of $10,000 per day that the entity operates in violation of the age verification requirements of this chapter or retains identifying information, up to $250,000 total if minors accessed the site.

Reasonable age verification methods require an individual to:

• provide digital identification; or
• comply with a commercial age verification system that verifies age using:
  • government issued ID; or
  • a commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify the age of an individual (e.g. records from mortgage, education, and employment entities).

Must ensure that the individual used as the source of the artificial sexual material harmful to minors:

• is 18 years or older; and
• has consented to the use of the individual’s face and body as a source for the material.

Attorney General Enforcement:
Civil penalties of $10,000 per day that the entity operates in violation of the age verification requirements or retains identifying information, up to $250,000 if one or more minors access the harmful content due to the age verification violation.

Must use a commercially reasonable age verification method to verify that any person seeking to access content is over age 18.

A digital service provider shall develop and implement a strategy to prevent the known minor’s exposure to harmful material Including:

• suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders;
• substance abuse;
• stalking, bullying, or harassment; or
• grooming, trafficking, child pornography, or other sexual exploitation or abuse.

A strategy developed must include:

• creating and maintaining a comprehensive list of harmful material or other content;
• using filtering technology and other protocols to enforce the blocking of material or content;
• using hash-sharing technology and other protocols to identify recurring harmful material or other content;
• creating and maintaining a database of keywords used for filter evasion;
• performing standard human-performed monitoring reviews to ensure efficacy of filtering technology;
• making available to users a comprehensive description of the categories of harmful material or other content that will be filtered; and
• making available the digital service provider’s algorithm code to independent security researchers.

The strategy may include:

• engaging a third party to rigorously review the digital service provider’s content filtering technology;
• participating in industry-specific partnerships to share best practices in preventing access to harmful material or other content; or
• conducting periodic independent audits to ensure continued compliance with the digital service provider’s strategy; and efficacy of filtering technology and protocols used by the digital service provider.

Attorney General enforcement: As deceptive act or practice under Chapter 17(e), which provides for injunction, civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and actual damages.

Private right of action: Liable to parent or guardian to seek declaratory judgment or an injunction.