An Act to Require Age Verification for Online Obscene Matter
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1873
Sponsors: SMITH

Legislative Document
No. 1873
H.P. 1244
House of Representatives, May 5, 2025
An Act to Require Age Verification for Online Obscene Matter
Received by the Clerk of the House on May 1, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Judiciary pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SMITH of Palermo.
Cosponsored by Representatives: COLLINS of Sidney, OLSEN of Raymond, PAUL of 
Winterport.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  10 MRSA c. 239 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 239
AGE VERIFICATION FOR ONLINE MATERIAL
§1500-Y. Age verification for online obscene matter
1. Age verification required. A business entity that knowingly and intentionally 
publishes or distributes obscene matter, as defined in Title 17, section 2911, subsection 1, 
paragraph D, on a website or software application shall verify that an individual attempting 
to access the obscene matter is 18 years of age or older through reasonable age verification 
methods, including, but not limited to, providing a valid, government-issued identification 
or through methods that rely on public or private transactional data to verify the age of the 
individual attempting to access the obscene matter.  The business entity shall prevent access 
to the obscene matter by an individual who has not attained 18 years of age.  A business 
entity that performs an age verification required pursuant to this subsection may not retain 
any identifying information of the individual after the individual's age has been verified.
For the purposes of this chapter, "business entity" has the same meaning as in Title 24-A, 
section 1402, subsection 3-A.
2. Exceptions. This section does not apply to any bona fide news broadcast or public 
interest broadcast, video, report or event and does not affect the rights of a news 
organization.
An Internet service provider, as defined in Title 5, section 200-B, subsection 1-A, 
paragraph A, or an Internet service provider's affiliates or subsidiaries, a search engine or 
a provider of so-called cloud hosting services does not violate this section solely for 
providing access or connection to or from a website or other information or content on the 
Internet or on a facility, system or network not under the Internet service provider's, 
affiliate's, subsidiary's, search engine's or provider's control, including by transmission or 
downloading, or through intermediate storage or access software, to the extent the Internet 
service provider, affiliate, subsidiary, search engine or provider is not responsible for the 
creation of the obscene matter.
3. Violation; liability. A business entity that is found to have violated subsection 1 is 
liable to an individual for damages resulting from a minor's accessing the obscene matter, 
including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.  A business entity that is found to have 
knowingly retained identifying information of an individual after the individual's age has 
been verified is liable to the individual for damages resulting from retaining the identifying 
information, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
If the Attorney General has reason to believe that a business entity is in violation of this 
section, the Attorney General may bring an action against the business entity for an unfair 
or deceptive act or practice as prohibited under Title 5, section 207.
4. Rules. The Attorney General shall adopt rules for the administration and 
implementation of this chapter, including procedures for receiving and investigating 
complaints of violations, and shall establish penalties for violations.  Rules adopted 
pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill requires that a business entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or 
distributes obscene matter on a website or software application verify that an individual 
attempting to access the obscene matter is 18 years of age or older through reasonable age 
verification methods.  The bill prohibits a business entity that performs an age verification 
of an individual from retaining any identifying information of the individual after the 
individual's age has been verified.  The bill does not apply to a bona fide news broadcast 
or public interest broadcast, video, report or event.  A business entity that is found to have 
violated the provisions of the bill is liable to an individual for damages including court 
costs and reasonable attorney's fees, and the Attorney General may bring an action against 
the business entity for an unfair or deceptive act or practice.