Iowa lawmakers advance bills to block minors’ access to porn online

DES MOINES — Iowa Republican lawmakers advanced a series of bills Tuesday intended to crack down on the distribution of obscene material to minors online.

One would require social media companies to use age verification to restrict access to obscene material, or face civil liability. Another would amend Iowa law dealing with the sexual exploitation of a minor to include artificially-generated images.

Lawmakers advanced House File 2051 that would require any commercial entity or social media platform that “knowingly or intentionally publishes or distributes obscene material to minors on the internet” to verify the age of any user seeking access to the material. Those that do not could be held civilly liable for damages, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court.

The bill provides an exception for online news services, applications or websites that consist primarily of news, sports, entertainment or other non-user generated content.

State Rep. Bill Gustoff, R-Des Moines, said lawmakers have drafted two or three bills that outline different approaches to prevent children from accessing pornography online.

Lawmakers last session advanced, but failed to approve, limits on social media platforms for teens. Iowa teens under 18 would have been prohibited from using the platforms — sites like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook — without approval from a parent or guardian. The measure advanced out of a House committee but failed to make it to the House floor.

Gustoff said House Republicans are "switching tracks to something that’s been tried in other states.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office said it plans to introduce legislation to require age verification for online pornography websites, similar to laws in Utah and Texas.

The Utah law has raised questions about the First Amendment rights of young Americans that have led courts to strike down similar laws requiring age verification.

“It’s all like a game of Whac-A-Mole,” he said. “ … We’re going to pass what we can, and then somebody will come up with some way to get around it a little bit and then we’ll have to come back and revisit it here and in other states.”

Chuck Hurley, legal counsel of The Family Leader, told lawmakers efforts to restrict minors’ access to pornography in the digital age have not been successful.

He read a statement from UNICEF, the United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, that says exposure to porn at a young age may lead to poor mental health, sexism, objectification, sexual violence and other negative outcomes.

House File 2051, however, refers specifically to social media and does not include other websites hosting pornography and other “material harmful to minors.”

State Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, said the intention of the law is important, but said the bill as worded was “a bit too broad” and worried about “unintended consequences.”

Bill would enhance penalties for providing materials to minors

Lawmakers also advanced a bill on Tuesday that would enhance the penalties for providing or showing obscene material to a minor.

The bill, House File 2046, would raise the penalty from a serious misdemeanor to an aggravated misdemeanor.

Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Birmingham, the bill’s sponsor, said during a subcommittee meeting on Tuesday that federal charges for providing obscene materials to a minor are even more severe, and Iowa’s penalties should be increased.

“The purpose of this bill is just to augment that this is something we really need to take a serious look at and recognize the tangible harm that disseminating obscene material causes to the state of Iowa,” he said.

Lawmakers on the subcommittee were generally supportive of the bill. Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, noted the importance of protecting children and asked whether the increase in penalties would deter offenders.

An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $8,540. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,560.

Proposed bills would criminalize some AI-generated porn

Another bill advanced Tuesday would help the state’s sexual exploitation laws adapt to artificial intelligence.

Current Iowa law does not prohibit the creation or possession of child sexual abuse material, or child pornography, if the images are generated by artificial intelligence programs.

House File 2049 seeks to close that loophole by stating pornography of children generated by AI is sexual exploitation.

The bill advanced Tuesday states the “knowing use of a visual depiction of a minor to create, adapt, or modify a photograph or film with the intent to falsely depict the minor engaging in a prohibited sexual act or the simulation of a prohibited sexual act” is considered sexual exploitation.

The bill applies for a person who was a minor at the time the visual depiction was created, adapted, or modified, or whose image as a minor was used in creating, adapting, or modifying the visual depiction and is recognizable as an actual person.

Mahaska County Attorney Andrew Ritland, who testified before a House subcommittee that advanced the bill, mentioned a case in which a man had manipulated an image to appear that a child who was his neighbor, was involved in a sexual act.

“Under current law, it’s exceptionally difficult to prosecute that type of case,” Ritland said. “ … But these are the cases we’re seeing in Iowa,” rural and urban alike.

An even though they’re false images, they pose “true harm,” both to adults and children, Ritland said.

He said individuals will use the fake images to coerce a minor to create and send real sexually explicit images or video in exchange.

A separate bill, House File 2048, would make it illegal to disseminate digitally altered pornographic images, or “deepfakes,” of a person without their consent. Deepfake porn involves creating fake sexually explicit media using someone’s likeness.

Those who do, could be found guilty of first-degree harassment, an aggravated misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison and a $8,540 fine.

“I think a clear legislative standard would benefit everyone to know what exactly is the line between a free speech, possession of an image, and one that’s actually criminalized,” Ritland said.

Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.

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