A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning requiring certain internet websites that provide
Page 1, Line 102material that is harmful to children to verify the age
Page 1, Line 103of individuals who attempt to access such material.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)
On and after July 1, 2026, the bill requires certain internet websites that knowingly and intentionally publish or distribute material that is harmful to children (covered platforms) to:
- Perform one or more reasonable age verification measures to verify the age of each individual who attempts to access such material;
- Prevent children from accessing such material; and
- Arrange for annual independent audits of the results of the covered platform's reasonable age verification measures.
On and after July 1, 2026, a covered platform must offer each user at least one option by which the covered platform may verify the user's age without the user having to disclose the user's identity. For this purpose, a covered platform must employ commercially available technologies that are independently certified to be highly effective in establishing that an individual is not a child.
A covered platform may not rely solely upon the geographical registration of an internet protocol address to determine a user's location and must apply extensive due diligence based on available technology before concluding that an individual is not located in Colorado.
A covered platform must ensure that each reasonable age verification measure that the covered platform employs includes a means by which a potential user of the covered platform may appeal a determination concerning the potential user's age.
A covered platform that acquires personal data for the purposes of age verification must destroy the personal data as soon as reasonably possible after a potential user's age is checked for age verification. In acquiring and retaining personal data, a covered platform must otherwise comply with the requirements of the "Colorado Privacy Act".
This Unofficial Version Includes Committee
Amendments Not Yet Adopted on Second Reading
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) Recognizing the
Page 2, Line 3widespread availability of online pornographic content and its potential
Page 2, Line 4harm to minors, the general assembly finds it necessary to require the
Page 2, Line 5implementation of age verification measures to prevent youth from
Page 2, Line 6accessing such material. This declaration affirms the state's commitment
Page 2, Line 7to safeguarding children from exposure to explicit content that may
Page 2, Line 8negatively impact their development, while protecting the rights of
Page 2, Line 9individuals 18 years of age and older. By requiring robust and effective
Page 2, Line 10age verification systems for access to online pornography, and requiring
Page 2, Line 11a nonidentity-document-based option, this legislation seeks to uphold the
Page 2, Line 12well-being of minors while respecting the rights of adults to lawful access.
Page 3, Line 1(2) The general assembly also finds that:
Page 3, Line 2(a) Extensive research has demonstrated that exposure to
Page 3, Line 3pornography at a young age can contribute to adverse public health
Page 3, Line 4outcomes, including increased rates of anxiety, depression, and distorted perceptions of healthy relationships and consent;
Page 3, Line 5(b) Studies indicate that early and repeated exposure to sexually
Page 3, Line 6explicit material is linked to compulsive behaviors, desensitization to
Page 3, Line 7violence, and unrealistic expectations about intimacy, which can have
Page 3, Line 8long-term consequences on minor viewers' mental and emotional well-being;
Page 3, Line 9(c) Leading public health organizations emphasize the need for
Page 3, Line 10protective measures to prevent premature exposure to pornography, citing
Page 3, Line 11its potential to negatively influence adolescent brain development and social behavior; and
Page 3, Line 12(d) The expanding sophisticated adoption of technology has made
Page 3, Line 13traditional age verification measures, such as simple self-attestation or
Page 3, Line 14parental controls, ineffective in preventing underage access to explicit
Page 3, Line 15online material, necessitating stronger safeguards for public health protection.
Page 3, Line 16(3) Therefore, the general assembly declares that:
Page 3, Line 17(a) This act is a critical public health measure and is intended to
Page 3, Line 18require effective and enforceable age verification measures for accessing online pornography websites that are accessible within the state; and
Page 3, Line 19(b) The general assembly remains committed to ensuring that any
Page 3, Line 20regulatory measures respect user privacy while achieving the paramount
Page 3, Line 21goal of promoting public health and protecting minors from harmful exposure to explicit content.
Page 4, Line 1SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add article 29 to title 6 as follows:
Page 4, Line 2ARTICLE 29
Age Verification for Providers of Online
Page 4, Line 3Material that Is Harmful to Children
Page 4, Line 46-29-101. Providers of online material that is harmful to
Page 4, Line 5children - user age verification measures required - appeals of age
Page 4, Line 6determinations - definitions. (1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
Page 4, Line 7(a) "Child" means an individual under eighteen years of age who resides in Colorado.
Page 4, Line 8(b) (I) "Covered platform" means an entity:
(A) That is a website; and
Page 4, Line 9(B) That, in the regular course of the trade or business of
Page 4, Line 10the entity, creates, hosts, or makes available material that is
Page 4, Line 11harmful to children, which material is provided by the entity, a
Page 4, Line 12user, or other information content provider, with the objective of earning a profit.
Page 4, Line 13(II) "Covered platform" includes an entity described in subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section regardless of whether:
Page 4, Line 14(A) The entity earns a profit on the activities described in subsection (1)(b)(I)(B) of this section; or
Page 4, Line 15(B) Creating, hosting, or making available content that
Page 4, Line 16is harmful to children is a substantial source of income or principal business of the entity.
Page 4, Line 17(III) "Covered platform" does not include:
Page 5, Line 1(A) An internet website that prohibits material harmful
Page 5, Line 2to children in its terms and conditions, makes reasonable
Page 5, Line 3efforts to scan user-generated content to remove material
Page 5, Line 4harmful to children, and operates a reporting process to
Page 5, Line 5affirmatively remove material harmful to children that is not removed systematically;
Page 5, Line 6(B) An internet service provider or its affiliates or subsidiaries;
Page 5, Line 7(C) A general purpose search engine;
(D) A cloud service provider;
Page 5, Line 8(E) A broadcast television service, cable service,
Page 5, Line 9satellite service, streaming media service, or other service
Page 5, Line 10offering video programming, as defined in section 613 (h)(2) of the "Communications Act of 1934", 47 U.S.C. sec. 151 et seq.; or
Page 5, Line 11(F) A commercial entity whose internet website contains
Page 5, Line 12material harmful to children but whose regular course of
Page 5, Line 13trade or business is not creating, hosting, or making available
Page 5, Line 14material harmful to children on the internet, as evidenced by
Page 5, Line 15the amount of data that constitutes material harmful to
Page 5, Line 16children on the commercial entity's internet website, the
Page 5, Line 17amount of data that constitutes material harmful to children
Page 5, Line 18on the commercial entity's internet website in proportion to the
Page 5, Line 19total amount of data on the commercial entity's internet
Page 5, Line 20website, the amount of user traffic to material harmful to
Page 5, Line 21children on the commercial entity's internet website, the
Page 5, Line 22amount of user traffic to material harmful to children on the
Page 5, Line 23commercial entity's internet website in proportion to all user
Page 6, Line 1traffic on the commercial entity's internet website, the amount
Page 6, Line 2of revenue the commercial entity obtains from material
Page 6, Line 3harmful to children on the commercial entity's internet website,
Page 6, Line 4or the amount of revenue the commercial entity generates from
Page 6, Line 5material harmful to children on the commercial entity's
Page 6, Line 6internet website in proportion to all revenues the commercial entity generates.
Page 6, Line 7(IV) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)(I)(B) of this
Page 6, Line 8section, the mere presence of material harmful to children on a
Page 6, Line 9commercial entity's internet website shall not be construed to
Page 6, Line 10mean that the commercial entity creates, hosts, or makes
Page 6, Line 11available material that is harmful to children in the regular
Page 6, Line 12course of the entity's trade or business. In determining whether
Page 6, Line 13a commercial entity's regular course of trade or business is
Page 6, Line 14creating, hosting, or making available material harmful to children on the internet, the following shall be considered:
Page 6, Line 15(A) The amount of data that constitutes material
Page 6, Line 16harmful to children on the commercial entity's internet website;
Page 6, Line 17(B) The amount of data that constitutes material
Page 6, Line 18harmful to children on the commercial entity's internet website
Page 6, Line 19in proportion to the total amount of data on the commercial entity's internet website;
Page 6, Line 20(C) The amount of user traffic to material harmful to children on the commercial entity's internet website;
Page 6, Line 21(D) The amount of user traffic to material harmful to
Page 6, Line 22children on the commercial entity's internet website in
Page 7, Line 1proportion to all user traffic on the commercial entity's internet website;
Page 7, Line 2(E) The amount of revenue the commercial entity obtains
Page 7, Line 3from material harmful to children on the commercial entity's internet website; and
Page 7, Line 4(F) The amount of revenue the commercial entity
Page 7, Line 5generates from material harmful to children on the commercial
Page 7, Line 6entity's internet website in proportion to all revenues the commercial entity generates.
Page 7, Line 7(c) "Harmful to children" means that quality of any
Page 7, Line 8description or representation, in whatever form, of sexually
Page 7, Line 9explicit nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse, when it:
Page 7, Line 10(I) Taken as a whole, predominantly appeals to the prurient interest in sex of children;
Page 7, Line 11(II) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the
Page 7, Line 12adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for children; and
Page 7, Line 13(III) Is, when taken as a whole, lacking in serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value for children.
Page 7, Line 14(d) "Independent auditor" means a professional auditor that:
Page 7, Line 15(I) Is operationally and financially independent of any covered platform;
Page 7, Line 16(II) Maintains operational and financial independence
Page 7, Line 17from suppliers of age-restricted goods, services, and content;
Page 7, Line 18and
Page 8, Line 1(III) Has no incentive to provide results that do not meet regulatory requirements and applicable standards.
Page 8, Line 2(e) "Publish" means to communicate or make information
Page 8, Line 3available to another person on a publicly available internet website.
Page 8, Line 4(f) (I) "Reasonable age verification measure" means a commercially reasonable measure that:
Page 8, Line 5(A) Can reliably and accurately determine whether a user of a covered platform is a child;
Page 8, Line 6(B) Prevents access by children to content on a covered platform; and
Page 8, Line 7(C) Verifies each user and potential user's age by
Page 8, Line 8employing commercially available technologies that are
Page 8, Line 9independently certified to be highly effective in establishing that an individual is not a child.
Page 8, Line 10(II) A "reasonable age verification measure" may, but is
Page 8, Line 11not required to, require a potential user to submit a government-issued form of identification.
Page 8, Line 12(2) (a) On and after July 1, 2026, a covered platform that
Page 8, Line 13knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material that is harmful to children on the internet shall:
Page 8, Line 14(I) Perform one or more reasonable age verification
Page 8, Line 15measures to verify the age of each individual who attempts to access such material;
Page 8, Line 16(II) Perform one or more reasonable age verification
Page 8, Line 17measures to verify the age of each individual who attempts to
Page 8, Line 18upload material to the covered platform;
(III) Prevent children from accessing such material; and
Page 9, Line 1(IV) Arrange for audits of the results of the covered
Page 9, Line 2platform's reasonable age verification measures, which audits are performed:
Page 9, Line 3(A) At least annually;
(B) At the expense of the covered platform;
Page 9, Line 4(C) By an independent auditor; and
Page 9, Line 5(D) For the purpose of certifying that the reasonable age
Page 9, Line 6verification measures satisfy a relevant, recognized
Page 9, Line 7international standard, such as ISO/IEC 27566-1, IEEE 2089.1, or the equivalent.
Page 9, Line 8(b) On and after July 1, 2026, a covered platform shall
Page 9, Line 9offer each user or potential user of the covered platform at
Page 9, Line 10least one option by which the covered platform may verify the
Page 9, Line 11user's or potential user's age without the user or potential user
Page 9, Line 12having to disclose the user's or potential user's identity to the
Page 9, Line 13covered platform. For this purpose, a covered platform shall
Page 9, Line 14employ commercially available technologies that are
Page 9, Line 15independently certified to be highly effective in establishing that an individual is not a child.
Page 9, Line 16(3) For the purposes of this section, a covered platform
Page 9, Line 17shall not rely solely upon the geographical registration of an
Page 9, Line 18internet protocol address to determine a user's location and
Page 9, Line 19shall apply extensive due diligence based on available
Page 9, Line 20technology before concluding that an individual is not located in Colorado.
Page 9, Line 21(4) On and after July 1, 2026, in satisfying the
Page 10, Line 1requirements of subsection (2) of this section, a covered
Page 10, Line 2platform shall ensure that each reasonable age verification
Page 10, Line 3measure that the covered platform employs for the purposes of
Page 10, Line 4this article 29 includes a means by which a potential user of the
Page 10, Line 5covered platform may appeal a determination concerning the potential user's age.
Page 10, Line 6(5) A covered platform that acquires personal data for
Page 10, Line 7the purposes of age verification pursuant to this article 29 shall
Page 10, Line 8destroy the personal data, if collected, immediately after a
Page 10, Line 9potential user's age is checked for age verification. In acquiring
Page 10, Line 10and retaining personal data as described in this section, a
Page 10, Line 11covered platform shall otherwise comply with the requirements
Page 10, Line 12of the "Colorado Privacy Act", part 13 of article 1 of this title 6.
Page 10, Line 13(6) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, this section:
Page 10, Line 14(a) Does not apply to any bona fide news or public interest broadcast, website video, report, or event; and
Page 10, Line 15(b) Shall not be construed to affect the rights of any news-gathering organizations.
Page 10, Line 16SECTION 3. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 10, Line 17takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 10, Line 18ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 10, Line 19that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 10, Line 20of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 10, Line 21act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 10, Line 22effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 11, Line 1November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.