I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6429 

To require certain interactive computer services to adopt and operate technology verification measures to ensure that users of the platform are 

not minors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2023 

Mrs. MILLER of Illinois (for herself and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require certain interactive computer services to adopt 

and operate technology verification measures to ensure 

that users of the platform are not minors, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shielding Children’s 

5 Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SCREEN Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Over the 3 decades preceding the date of 

2 enactment of this Act, Congress has passed several 

3 bills to protect minors from access to online porno4 graphic content, including title V of the Tele5 communications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104) 

6 (commonly known as the ‘‘Communications Decency 

7 Act’’), section 231 of the Communications Act of 

8 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231) (commonly known as the 

9 ‘‘Child Online Protection Act’’), and the Children’s 

10 Internet Protection Act (title XVII of division B of 

11 Public Law 106–554). 

12 (2) With the exception of the Children’s Inter13 net Protection Act (title XVII of division B of Public 

14 Law 106–554), the Supreme Court of the United 

15 States has struck down the previous efforts of Con16 gress to shield children from pornographic content, 

17 finding that such legislation constituted a ‘‘compel18 ling government interest’’ but that it was not the 

19 least restrictive means to achieve such interest. In 

20 Ashcroft v. ACLU, 542 U.S. 656 (2004), the Court 

21 even suggested at the time that ‘‘blocking and fil22 tering software’’ could conceivably be a ‘‘primary al23 ternative’’ to the requirements passed by Congress. 

24 (3) In the nearly 2 decades since the Supreme 

25 Court of the United States suggested the use of 


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1 ‘‘blocking and filtering software’’, such technology 

2 has proven to be ineffective in protecting minors 

3 from accessing online pornographic content. The 

4 Kaiser Family Foundation has found that filters do 

5 not work on 1 in 10 pornography sites accessed in6 tentionally and 1 in 3 pornography sites that are 

7 accessed unintentionally. Further, it has been proven 

8 that children are able to bypass ‘‘blocking and fil9 tering’’ software by employing strategic searches or 

10 measures to bypass the software completely. 

11 (4) Additionally, Pew Research has revealed 

12 studies showing that only 39 percent of parents use 

13 blocking or filtering software for their minor’s online 

14 activities, meaning that 61 percent of children only 

15 have restrictions on their internet access when they 

16 are at school or at a library. 

17 (5) 17 States have now recognized pornography 

18 as a public health hazard that leads to a broad 

19 range of individual harms, societal harms, and pub20 lic health impacts. 

21 (6) It is estimated that 80 percent of minors 

22 between the ages of 12 to 17 have been exposed to 

23 pornography, with 54 percent of teenagers seeking it 

24 out. The internet is the most common source for mi25 nors to access pornography with pornographic 


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1 websites receiving more web traffic in the United 

2 States than Twitter, Netflix, Pinterest, and 

3 LinkedIn combined. 

4 (7) Exposure to online pornography has created 

5 unique psychological effects for minors, including 

6 anxiety, addiction, low self-esteem, body image dis7 orders, an increase in problematic sexual activity at 

8 younger ages, and an increased desire among minors 

9 to engage in risky sexual behavior. 

10 (8) The Supreme Court of the United States 

11 has recognized on multiple occasions that Congress 

12 has a ‘‘compelling government interest’’ to protect 

13 the physical and psychological well-being of minors, 

14 which includes shielding them from ‘‘indecent’’ con15 tent that may not necessarily be considered ‘‘ob16 scene’’ by adult standards. 

17 (9) Because ‘‘blocking and filtering software’’ 

18 has not produced the results envisioned nearly 2 dec19 ades ago, it is necessary for Congress to pursue al20 ternative policies to enable the protection of the 

21 physical and psychological well-being of minors. 

22 (10) The evolution of our technology has now 

23 enabled the use of age verification technology that is 

24 cost efficient, not unduly burdensome, and can be 

25 operated narrowly in a manner that ensures only 


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1 adults have access to a website’s online pornographic 

2 content. 

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that— 

5 (1) shielding minors from access to online por6 nographic content is a compelling government inter7 est that protects the physical and psychological well8 being of minors; and 

9 (2) requiring interactive computer services that 

10 are in the business of creating, hosting, or making 

11 available pornographic content to enact technological 

12 measures that shield minors from accessing porno13 graphic content on their platforms is the least re14 strictive means for Congress to achieve its compel15 ling government interest. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY; MINOR.—The terms 

19 ‘‘child pornography’’ and ‘‘minor’’ have the mean20 ings given those terms in section 2256 of title 18, 

21 United States Code. 

22 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

23 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

24 (3) COVERED PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘covered 

25 platform’’— 


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1 (A) means an entity— 

2 (i) that is an interactive computer 

3 service; 

4 (ii) that— 

5 (I) is engaged in interstate or 

6 foreign commerce; or 

7 (II) purposefully avails itself of 

8 the United States market or a portion 

9 thereof; and 

10 (iii) for which it is in the regular 

11 course of the trade or business of the enti12 ty to create, host, or make available con13 tent that meets the definition of harmful to 

14 minors under paragraph (4) and that is 

15 provided by the entity, a user, or other in16 formation content provider, with the objec17 tive of earning a profit; and 

18 (B) includes an entity described in sub19 paragraph (A) regardless of whether— 

20 (i) the entity earns a profit on the ac21 tivities described in subparagraph (A)(iii); 

22 or 

23 (ii) creating, hosting, or making avail24 able content that meets the definition of 

25 harmful to minors under paragraph (4) is 


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1 the sole source of income or principal busi2 ness of the entity. 

3 (4) HARMFUL TO MINORS.—The term ‘‘harmful 

4 to minors’’, with respect to a picture, image, graphic 

5 image file, film, videotape, or other visual depiction, 

6 means that the picture, image, graphic image file, 

7 film, videotape, or other depiction— 

8 (A)(i) taken as a whole and with respect to 

9 minors, appeals to the prurient interest in nu10 dity, sex, or excretion; 

11 (ii) depicts, describes, or represents, in a 

12 patently offensive way with respect to what is 

13 suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sex14 ual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated 

15 normal or perverted sexual acts, or lewd exhi16 bition of the genitals; and 

17 (iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious, lit18 erary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to 

19 minors; 

20 (B) is obscene; or 

21 (C) is child pornography. 

22 (5) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER; INTER23 ACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE.—The terms ‘‘informa24 tion content provider’’ and ‘‘interactive computer 

25 service’’ have the meanings given those terms in secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Dec 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6429.IH H6429

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1 tion 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

2 U.S.C. 230(f)). 

3 (6) SEXUAL ACT; SEXUAL CONTACT.—The 

4 terms ‘‘sexual act’’ and ‘‘sexual contact’’ have the 

5 meanings given those terms in section 2246 of title 

6 18, United States Code. 

7 (7) TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION MEASURE.— 

8 The term ‘‘technology verification measure’’ means 

9 technology that— 

10 (A) employs a system or process to deter11 mine whether it is more likely than not that a 

12 user of a covered platform is a minor; and 

13 (B) prevents access by minors to any con14 tent on a covered platform. 

15 (8) TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION MEASURE

16 DATA.—The term ‘‘technology verification measure 

17 data’’ means information that— 

18 (A) identifies, is linked to, or is reasonably 

19 linkable to an individual or a device that identi20 fies, is linked to, or is reasonably linkable to an 

21 individual; 

22 (B) is collected or processed for the pur23 pose of fulfilling a request by an individual to 

24 access any content on a covered platform; and 


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1 (C) is collected and processed solely for the 

2 purpose of utilizing a technology verification 

3 measure and meeting the obligations imposed 

4 under this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION MEASURES. 

6 (a) COVERED PLATFORM REQUIREMENTS.—Begin7 ning on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, a covered platform shall adopt and utilize tech9 nology verification measures on the platform to ensure 

10 that— 

11 (1) users of the covered platform are not mi12 nors; and 

13 (2) minors are prevented from accessing any 

14 content on the covered platform that is harmful to 

15 minors. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR AGE VERIFICATION MEAS17 URES.—In order to comply with the requirement of sub18 section (a), the technology verification measures adopted 

19 and utilized by a covered platform shall do the following: 

20 (1) Use a technology verification measure in 

21 order to verify a user’s age. 

22 (2) Provide that requiring a user to confirm 

23 that the user is not a minor shall not be sufficient 

24 to satisfy the requirement of subsection (a). 


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1 (3) Make publicly available the verification 

2 process that the covered platform is employing to 

3 comply with the requirements under this Act. 

4 (4) Subject the Internet Protocol (IP) address5 es, including known virtual proxy network IP ad6 dresses, of all users of a covered platform to the 

7 technology verification measure described in para8 graph (1) unless the covered platform determines 

9 based on available technology that a user is not lo10 cated within the United States. 

11 (c) CHOICE OF VERIFICATION MEASURES.—A cov12 ered platform may choose the specific technology 

13 verification measures to employ for purposes of complying 

14 with subsection (a), provided that the technology 

15 verification measure employed by the covered platform 

16 meets the requirements of subsection (b) and prohibits a 

17 minor from accessing the platform or any information on 

18 the platform that is obscene, child pornography, or harm19 ful to minors. 

20 (d) USE OF THIRD PARTIES.—A covered platform 

21 may contract with a third party to employ technology 

22 verification measures for purposes of complying with sub23 section (a) but the use of such a third party shall not re24 lieve the covered platform of its obligations under this Act 

25 or from liability under this Act. 


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1 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed to require a covered platform to 

3 submit to the Commission any information that identifies, 

4 is linked to, or is reasonably linkable to a user of the cov5 ered platform or a device that identifies, is linked to, or 

6 is reasonably linkable to a user of the covered platform. 

7 (f) TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION MEASURE DATA SE8 CURITY.—A covered platform shall— 

9 (1) establish, implement, and maintain reason10 able data security to— 

11 (A) protect the confidentiality, integrity, 

12 and accessibility of technology verification 

13 measure data collected by the covered platform 

14 or a third party employed by the covered plat15 form; and 

16 (B) protect such technology verification 

17 measure data against unauthorized access; and 

18 (2) retain the technology verification measure 

19 data for no longer than is reasonably necessary to 

20 utilize a technology verification measure or what is 

21 minimally necessary to demonstrate compliance with 

22 the obligations under this Act. 

23 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS. 

24 In enforcing the requirements under section 4, the 

25 Commission shall consult with the following individuals, 


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1 including with respect to the applicable standards and 

2 metrics for making a determination on whether a user of 

3 a covered platform is not a minor: 

4 (1) Individuals with experience in computer 

5 science and software engineering. 

6 (2) Individuals with experience in— 

7 (A) advocating for online child safety; or 

8 (B) providing services to minors who have 

9 been victimized by online child exploitation. 

10 (3) Individuals with experience in consumer 

11 protection and online privacy. 

12 (4) Individuals who supply technology 

13 verification measure products or have expertise in 

14 technology verification measure solutions. 

15 (5) Individuals with experience in data security 

16 and cryptography. 

17 SEC. 6. COMMISSION REQUIREMENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall— 

19 (1) conduct regular audits of covered platforms 

20 to ensure compliance with the requirements of sec21 tion 4; 

22 (2) make public the terms and processes for the 

23 audits conducted under paragraph (1), including the 

24 processes for any third party conducting an audit on 

25 behalf of the Commission; 


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1 (3) establish a process for each covered plat2 form to submit only such documents or other mate3 rials as are necessary for the Commission to ensure 

4 full compliance with the requirements of section 4 

5 when conducting audits under this section; and 

6 (4) prescribe the appropriate documents, mate7 rials, or other measures required to demonstrate full 

8 compliance with the requirements of section 4. 

9 (b) GUIDANCE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis12 sion shall issue guidance to assist covered platforms 

13 in complying with the requirements of section 4. 

14 (2) LIMITATIONS ON GUIDANCE.—No guidance 

15 issued by the Commission with respect to this Act 

16 shall confer any rights on any person, State, or lo17 cality, nor shall operate to bind the Commission or 

18 any person to the approach recommended in such 

19 guidance. In any enforcement action brought pursu20 ant to this Act, the Commission shall allege a spe21 cific violation of a provision of this Act. The Com22 mission may not base an enforcement action on, or 

23 execute a consent order based on, practices that are 

24 alleged to be inconsistent with any such guidelines, 


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1 unless the practices allegedly violate a provision of 

2 this Act. 

3 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT. 

4 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.—A 

5 violation of section 4 shall be treated as a violation of a 

6 rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under 

7 section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

9 (b) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en11 force section 4 in the same manner, by the same 

12 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 

13 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 

14 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 

15 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 

16 this title. 

17 (2) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person 

18 who violates section 4 shall be subject to the pen19 alties and entitled to the privileges and immunities 

20 provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

21 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

22 (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 

23 Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 

24 Commission under any other provision of law. 


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1 SEC. 8. GAO REPORT. 

2 Not later than 2 years after the date on which cov3 ered platforms are required to comply with the require4 ment of section 4(a), the Comptroller General of the 

5 United States shall submit to Congress a report that in6 cludes— 

7 (1) an analysis of the effectiveness of the tech8 nology verification measures required under such 

9 section; 

10 (2) an analysis of rates of compliance with such 

11 section among covered platforms; 

12 (3) an analysis of the data security measures 

13 used by covered platforms in the age verification 

14 process; 

15 (4) an analysis of the behavioral, economic, psy16 chological, and societal effects of implementing tech17 nology verification measures; 

18 (5) recommendations to the Commission on im19 proving enforcement of section 4(a), if any; and 

20 (6) recommendations to Congress on potential 

21 legislative improvements to this Act, if any. 

22 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. 

23 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

24 a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 

25 unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this Act, and 


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1 the application of such provisions to any other person or 

2 circumstance, shall not be affected thereby. 

Æ 


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