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House adopts Senate amendment tightening age-verification threshold in online porn bill
Summary
The House concurred in Senate amendment H8430 to House file 864, changing the definition of 'substantial portion' to 33% or more for online pornographic content and adding data-privacy considerations; the House then passed the bill.
The House agreed to a Senate amendment to House file 864 that adjusts how the law defines a "substantial portion" of online content that would trigger an age-verification requirement.
A sponsor described Senate amendment H8430 as a narrow change to improve the bill's chances of withstanding legal challenge, shifting the threshold so that a site or app is covered when 33% or more of its content is pornographic. The sponsor also said the amendment addressed data privacy concerns.
Representative Srinivasan, recognized during floor discussion, said the amendment also helps with data-privacy issues and urged support for the amendment. The sponsor closed by moving that the House concur in Senate amendment H8430; the body adopted the amendment by voice vote and read House file 864 for final passage.
The clerk read House file 864, which requires operators of certain internet sites, applications or segments of them that contain pornographic content accessible to minors to perform reasonable age verification. The clerk announced a machine vote with results recorded as 82 voting in favor and 16 recorded as voting no or not voting in the clerk's announcement; the clerk declared the bill to have passed and the title was agreed to.
The bill as passed will proceed according to the legislative process for further Senate action.
