Indiana SB 17

Takes effect July 1, 2024

Age verification mandate. Relevant features:

• The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor if a website operator knowingly or intentionally publishes a website with pornographic content without reasonable age verification methods. The penalty would be increased to a Level 6 felony if the operator has a prior violation or conviction.
• The bill provides that the Attorney General may bring an action to obtain an injunction, a civil penalty of not more than $250,000, or the Attorney General's reasonable costs in investigating and maintaining the action. It provides that when the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that any person has engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in a violation, the Attorney General is empowered to investigate the suspected violation.
• It also creates a private cause of action to permit:
  • the parent or guardian of a child harmed by a violation of the age verification requirement to obtain monetary damages, injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney's fees; and
  • any other person to bring an action to obtain injunctive relief and reasonable attorney's fees.
• Age verification mechanisms allowed
  • A mobile credential;
  • An independent third party age verification service that compares identifying information of the individual seeking access with material from a commercially available database; and
  • Any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data.