Section 39-5-5 - [Effective 7/1/2025] Commercial entity age verification; access to material harmful to minors; data retention; penalties; exclusions(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) "Commercial entity" means a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship, or other legally recognized entity.(2) "Digitized identification card" means a data file available on a mobile device with connectivity to the internet that contains all of the data elements visible on the face and back of a driver's license or identification card and displays the current status of the driver's license or identification card as being valid, expired, cancelled, suspended, revoked, active, or inactive.(3) "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any means.(4) "Material harmful to minors" means: (A) Any material that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, prurient interest;(B) Any of the following materials that exploit, are devoted to, or principally consist of descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated displays or depictions of any of the following, in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors: (i) Nipple of the female breast, pubic hair, anus, vulva, or genitals;(ii) Touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, buttocks, the anus, or genitals; or(iii) Any sexual act, including, but not limited to, sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, and exhibitions of sexual acts; or(C) The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.(5) "Minor" means any individual under the age of 18 years.(6) "News-gathering organization" means: (A) An employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news source, printed or published on an online or mobile platform, while operating as an employee of a news-gathering organization who can provide documentation of employment with the newspaper, news publication, or news source; or(B) An employee of a radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service while operating as an employee of a news-gathering organization who can provide documentation of employment.(7) "Publish" means to communicate or make information available to another person or entity on a public website.(8) "Reasonable age verification" means to confirm that a person seeking to access published material that may have a substantial portion of material that is harmful to minors is at least 18 years of age.(9) "Substantial portion" means more than 33.33 percent of total material on a public website which meets the definition of material that is harmful to minors as defined in this Code section.(b) Before allowing access to a public website that contains a substantial portion of material that is harmful to minors, a commercial entity shall use a reasonable age verification method, which may include, but not be limited to: (1) The submission of a digitized identification card, including a digital copy of a driver's license;(2) The submission of government-issued identification; or(3) Any commercially reasonable age verification method that meets or exceeds an Identity Assurance Level 2 standard, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.(c)(1) A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material that is harmful to minors on a public website which contains a substantial portion of material that is harmful to minors is liable if the commercial entity fails to perform reasonable age verification of the individual attempting to access the material.(2) A commercial entity that violates this Code section is liable to an individual for damages resulting from a minor accessing material harmful to minors, including court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees as ordered by the court.(3) A commercial entity that violates this Code section shall be subject to a fine of up to $10,000.00 for each violation, the amount of which shall be determined by the superior court in the county in which any affected minor resides. The Attorney General or solicitor general or district attorney having jurisdiction shall institute proceedings to impose such fine within one year of the violation. The issuance of a fine under this paragraph shall not preclude any right of action.(d)(1) When a commercial entity or third party performs a reasonable age verification, the commercial entity shall not retain any identifying information after access to the material has been granted.(2) A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly retained identifying information of an individual after access to the material has been granted is liable to such individual for damages resulting from retaining the identifying information, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees as ordered by the court.(e) This Code section shall not: (1) Apply to a news or public interest broadcast, public website video, report, or event;(2) Affect the rights of a news-gathering organization; or(3) Apply to cloud service providers.(f) An internet service provider and any affiliate, subsidiary, or search engine shall not be considered to have violated this Code section solely by providing access or connection to or from a public website or to other information or content on the internet or on a facility, system, or network that is not under that internet service provider's control, to the extent the internet service provider is not responsible for the creation of the content or the communication that constitutes material that is harmful to minors.Added by 2024 Ga. Laws 463,§ 3-2, eff. 7/1/2025.