An Act to Protect Children by Modernizing Internet and Digital Media Filtering Requirements for Education
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1333
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: SAMPSON, LIBBY, CROCKETT, GUERRETTE, HYMES, LYMAN, RAFFERTY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §405, 20-A MRSA §2416, 20-A MRSA §4015

Legislative Document
No. 1333
H.P. 847
House of Representatives, March 28, 2023
An Act to Protect Children by Modernizing Internet and Digital 
Media Filtering Requirements for Education
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SAMPSON of Alfred.
Cosponsored by Senator LIBBY of Cumberland and
Representatives: CROCKETT of Portland, GUERRETTE of Caribou, HYMES of Waldo, 
LYMAN of Livermore Falls, Senator: RAFFERTY of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §405, sub-§3, ¶V, as amended by PL 2015, c. 72, §2, is further 
amended to read:
V.  Study school administrative unit configuration statewide; and
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §405, sub-§3, ¶W, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 72, §3, is 
amended to read:
W.  Enter into an interstate reciprocity agreement regarding postsecondary distance 
education, administer the agreement and approve or disapprove an application to 
participate in the agreement from a postsecondary institution that has its principal 
campus in the State.; and
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §405, sub-§3, ¶X is enacted to read:
X.  Adopt or amend rules to prevent material that is child pornography, harmful to 
minors, sexually explicit or obscene from being transmitted by video, computer system, 
software or hardware product or Internet service managed or provided to school 
administrative units, including prevention by means of filtering and technology 
protection measures.  For purposes of this paragraph, "filtering" means a specific 
technology that blocks or filters Internet access to defined types of material, "obscene" 
means material that meets the 3 requirements set forth in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 
15, and "technology protection measures" means a hardware or software application 
that limits access to content or applications according to parameters set by a user with 
administrative access to the software or hardware application.
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §2416 is enacted to read:
§2416.  Filtering and technology protection measures
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Filtering" means an application or tool that blocks or filters Internet access to 
defined types of material.
B. "Obscene" means material that meets the 3 requirements set forth in Miller v. 
California, 413 U.S. 15.
C. "Technology protection measures" means a hardware or software application that 
limits access to content or applications according to parameters set by a user with 
administrative access to the software or hardware application.
2. Filtering required. A public charter school shall use the latest available filtering 
technology to ensure that material that is child pornography, harmful to minors, sexually 
explicit or obscene is not made available to students.
3. Technology protection measures required.  If providing access to a computer or 
digital device, a public charter school shall update and enforce technology protection 
measures to ensure that no person using public charter school computers or digital devices 
has access to materials that are child pornography, harmful to minors, sexually explicit or 
obscene.
4. Disablement of technology protection measures. An employee of a public charter 
school may disable technology protection measures otherwise required by this section or 
department rule only for legitimate education purposes for students in secondary school. 
An employee of an elementary school may not disable technology protection measures.
5. Policies; report. A public charter school shall:
A.  Update enforcement policies regarding filtering and technology protection 
measures;
B.  Report policies updated under paragraph A to the department; and
C.  Make policies updated under paragraph A available to the public within one year 
of the update.
Sec. 5.  20-A MRSA §4015 is enacted to read:
§4015.  Filtering and technology protection measures
1.  Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Filtering" means an application or tool that blocks or filters Internet access to 
defined types of material.
B. "Obscene" means material that meets the 3 requirements set forth in Miller v. 
California, 413 U.S. 15.
C. "Technology protection measures" means a hardware or software application that 
limits access to content or applications according to parameters set by a user with 
administrative access to the software or hardware application.
2. Filtering required. A school administrative unit shall use the latest available 
filtering technology to ensure that material that is child pornography, harmful to minors, 
sexually explicit or obscene is not made available to students.
3. Technology protection measures required.  If providing access to a computer or 
digital device, a school administrative unit shall update and enforce technology protection 
measures to ensure that no person using school administrative unit computers or digital 
devices has access to materials that are child pornography, harmful to minors, sexually 
explicit or obscene.
4. Disablement of technology protection measures. An employee of a school 
administrative unit may disable technology protection measures otherwise required by this 
section or department rule only for legitimate education purposes for students in secondary 
school. An employee of an elementary school may not disable technology protection 
measures.
5. Policies; report. A school administrative unit shall:
A.  Update enforcement policies regarding filtering and technology protection 
measures;
B.  Report policies updated under paragraph A to the department; and
C.  Make policies updated under paragraph A available to the public within one year 
of the update.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules to prevent material that 
is child pornography, harmful to minors, sexually explicit or obscene from being 
transmitted by video, computer system, software or hardware product or Internet service 
managed or provided to school administrative units.  The bill requires public schools and 
charter schools to implement policies, filtering and technology protection measures to 
ensure that no person using school computers or digital devices has access to materials that 
are child pornography, harmful to minors, sexually explicit or obscene.