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WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce is scheduled to meet Thursday to review and potentially amend the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, a measure that includes provisions establishing federal age-verification requirements for adult websites.
The KIDS Act is an omnibus bill that combines several online safety proposals. Among the measures included in the legislation is the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, a federal age-verification bill introduced last year by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois.
An updated version of the SCREEN Act, amended by Congressman Craig Goldman of Texas, forms the basis of Title I of the KIDS Act. That section of the bill is titled “Shielding Minors From Obscenity.”
The section requires adult websites to implement what the bill describes as a “technology verification measure.” The legislation defines that as “technology that (A) employs a system or process to determine whether it is more likely than not that a user of a covered platform is a minor; and (B) prevents access by minors to any sexual material harmful to minors on a covered platform.”
To comply with the proposal, websites or their third-party age-verification providers would be required to use such a “technology verification measure” to verify a user’s age and take “reasonable measures” to prevent circumvention of those systems. The provision appears intended to address the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other tools that can bypass age-verification requirements.
About half of U.S. states currently have age-verification laws in place. If the KIDS Act becomes law, its age-verification provisions would supersede those state laws. The bill states: “No State, or political subdivision of a State, may prescribe, maintain, enforce, or continue in effect any law, rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other provision” that requires age verification by adult sites.
If the bill is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump, it would take effect one year after enactment.
Failure to comply with the proposed law would be treated as a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act’s prohibition against unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Violators could face civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation.
If the Committee on Energy and Commerce approves the KIDS Act following Thursday’s markup session, the bill could then move to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
