Bills › 91st General Assembly
Requiring persons who operate certain internet sites, applications, or a segment of an internet site or application that contains material pornographic for minors to perform reasonable age verification
Sponsored by the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bill Gustoff (R)
Topics:Courts & civil lawTechnology & privacy
Same legislation: HF 2274
Progress
- IntroducedFebruary 19, 2026
- Subcommittee—
- Committee—
- Passed House—
- Passed Senate—
- Signed—
Died at end of session The General Assembly adjourned on May 3, 2026. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
This bill requires persons who operate certain internet sites (sites), applications (apps), or a segment of a site or an app to perform reasonable age verification. The bill defines “application”, “commercial entity”, “digital identification”, “minor”, “mobile device”, “news-gathering organization”, “pornographic for minors”, “substantial portion”, and “transactional data”. The bill prohibits a person from operating a site, an app, or a segment of a site or an app, including on a social media platform, that contains a substantial portion of content pornographic for minors unless the person uses reasonable age verification to prevent minors from accessing the content pornographic for minors.
Read the full explanation
Reasonable age verification includes requiring an individual to provide digital identification; a method that is commercially reasonable given the person’s scope of business and that relies on transactional data to verify an individual’s age; or a method approved by the attorney general by rule. The bill prohibits a person that performs reasonable age verification under the bill, including a third party that contracts with a person to perform reasonable age verification for the person, from retaining any identifying information of an individual subject to reasonable age verification unless retention of the identifying information is required by law or a court order. The bill requires a person that performs reasonable age verification under the bill, including a third party that contracts with a person to perform reasonable age verification for the person, to use reasonable methods given the person’s scope of business to secure all data collected and transmitted under the bill. The bill lists certain entities and situations to which the bill does not apply. The bill requires the attorney general to enforce the bill, seek injunctions for violations of the bill, and bring actions against a person thought to be in violation of the bill. Each time an individual accesses a site or application not in compliance with the bill constitutes a separate violation. A violation of the bill is punishable by a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation. A person in violation of the bill shall not accrue civil penalties of more than $10,000 in a single day. Civil penalties collected under the bill shall be deposited into the general fund of the state. The bill requires the attorney general to adopt rules to implement and administer the bill.
From the explanation printed with the bill as introduced, written by the Legislative Services Agency. Amendments adopted later aren’t reflected. Full bill text
History
Meetings
- Tuesday, February 17 · 10:30 AMJudiciary committee · RM 103Official meeting page
- Wednesday, February 11 · 8:00 AMJudiciary subcommittee · RM 19Official meeting page
- Tuesday, February 10 · 1:00 PMJudiciary committee · RM 103Official meeting page
Votes
No recorded votes yet.
Lobbyist declarations
- Iowa Baptists For Biblical ValuesFor
- Iowa Catholic ConferenceFor
- Iowa Faith and Freedom CoalitionFor
- Protect My InnocenceFor
- The Family LeaderFor
- The Family Leader FoundationFor
- VALOR IowaFor
- AT & TUndecided
- Iowa Cable and Telecommunications AssociationUndecided
- Motion Picture Association, Inc.Undecided
- T-Mobile USA, Inc.Undecided
- Technology Association of IowaUndecided
- Verizon Corporation and Affiliated CompaniesUndecided
Grouped by organization. Lobbying overview →