Relating to the regulation of access to obscene material by minors on social media platforms, and including effective date provisions

This bill relates to the regulation of access to obscene material by a minor on social media platforms. The bill requires a social media platform to provide, in a mechanism that is reasonably accessible to users, a means for a user who is an Iowa resident to report material to the social media platform that the user reasonably believes meets certain criteria, including that the reported material is child sexual abuse material in which the reporting user is an identifiable minor depicted in the reported material. The bill requires the social media platform to permanently block the reported material and make reasonable efforts to remove and block other instances of the same reported material from being viewable on the social media platform if there is a reasonable basis to believe that the reported material is child sexual abuse material that is displayed, stored, or hosted on the social media platform, and the report contains basic identifying information sufficient to permit the social media platform to locate the reported material. The bill makes a social media platform liable to the reporting user, including for statutory damages of no more than $250,000 per violation, $125,000 per violation, or $75,000 per violation, as specified. The bill prohibits a social media platform from knowingly facilitating, aiding, or abetting commercial sexual exploitation, as specified. The bill would require a court to award statutory damages not exceeding $4 million and not less than $1 million for each act of commercial sexual exploitation facilitated, aided, or abetted by the social media platform. The bill defines “facilitate, aid, or abet” to mean to deploy a system, design, feature, or affordance that is a substantial factor in causing minor users to be victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The bill prohibits a social media platform from being deemed to be in violation of this provision if the social media platform demonstrates certain mitigating facts, including that the social media platform instituted and maintained a program of at least biannual audits of its designs, algorithms, practices, affordances, and features to detect designs, algorithms, practices, affordances, or features that have the potential to cause or contribute to violations of that provision. The bill provides that there is no time limitation in which to bring a civil action against a social media platform that violates this provision. The bill takes effect on January 1, 2025.