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".
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" has the meaning set forth in section 18-7-501 (2).
Page 7, Line 8(d) "Independent auditor" means a professional auditor that:
Page 7, Line 9(I) Is operationally and financially independent of any covered platform;
Page 7, Line 10(II) Maintains operational and financial independence
Page 7, Line 11from suppliers of age-restricted goods, services, and content; and
Page 7, Line 12(III) Has no incentive to provide results that do not meet regulatory requirements and applicable standards.
Page 7, Line 13(e) "Publish" means to communicate or make information
Page 7, Line 14available to another person on a publicly available internet website.
Page 7, Line 15(f) (I) "Reasonable age verification measure" means a commercially reasonable measure that:
Page 7, Line 16(A) Can reliably and accurately determine whether a
Page 7, Line 17user of a covered platform is a child;
Page 8, Line 1(B) Prevents access by children to content on a covered platform; and
Page 8, Line 2(C) Verifies each user and potential user's age by
Page 8, Line 3employing commercially available technologies that are
Page 8, Line 4independently certified to be highly effective in establishing that an individual is not a child.
Page 8, Line 5(II) A "reasonable age verification measure" may, but is
Page 8, Line 6not required to, require a potential user to submit a government-issued form of identification.
Page 8, Line 7(2) (a) On and after July 1, 2026, a covered platform that
Page 8, Line 8knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material that is harmful to children on the internet shall:
Page 8, Line 9(I) Perform one or more reasonable age verification
Page 8, Line 10measures to verify the age of each individual who attempts to access such material;
Page 8, Line 11(II) Prevent children from accessing such material; and
Page 8, Line 12(III) Arrange for audits of the results of the covered
Page 8, Line 13platform's reasonable age verification measures, which audits are performed:
Page 8, Line 14(A) At least annually;
(B) At the expense of the covered platform;
Page 8, Line 15(C) By an independent auditor; and
Page 8, Line 16(D) For the purpose of certifying that the reasonable age
Page 8, Line 17verification measures satisfy a relevant, recognized
Page 8, Line 18international standard, such as ISO/IEC 27566-1, IEEE 2089.1, or the equivalent.
Page 8, Line 19(b) On and after July 1, 2026, a covered platform shall
Page 9, Line 1offer each user or potential user of the covered platform at
Page 9, Line 2least one option by which the covered platform may verify the
Page 9, Line 3user's or potential user's age without the user or potential user
Page 9, Line 4having to disclose the user's or potential user's identity to the
Page 9, Line 5covered platform. For this purpose, a covered platform shall
Page 9, Line 6employ commercially available technologies that are
Page 9, Line 7independently certified to be highly effective in establishing that an individual is not a child.
Page 9, Line 8(3) For the purposes of this section, a covered platform
Page 9, Line 9shall not rely solely upon the geographical registration of an
Page 9, Line 10internet protocol address to determine a user's location and
Page 9, Line 11shall apply extensive due diligence based on available
Page 9, Line 12technology before concluding that an individual is not located in Colorado.
Page 9, Line 13(4) On and after July 1, 2026, in satisfying the
Page 9, Line 14requirements of subsection (2) of this section, a covered
Page 9, Line 15platform shall ensure that each reasonable age verification
Page 9, Line 16measure that the covered platform employs for the purposes of
Page 9, Line 17this article 29 includes a means by which a potential user of the
Page 9, Line 18covered platform may appeal a determination concerning the potential user's age.
Page 9, Line 19(5) A covered platform that acquires personal data for
Page 9, Line 20the purposes of age verification pursuant to this article 29 shall
Page 9, Line 21destroy the personal data as soon as reasonably possible after
Page 9, Line 22a potential user's age is checked for age verification. In
Page 9, Line 23acquiring and retaining personal data as described in this
Page 9, Line 24section, a covered platform shall otherwise comply with the
Page 10, Line 1requirements of the "Colorado Privacy Act", part 13 of article 1 of this title 6.
Page 10, Line 2(6) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, this section:
Page 10, Line 3(a) Does not apply to any bona fide news or public interest broadcast, website video, report, or event; and
Page 10, Line 4(b) Shall not be construed to affect the rights of any news-gathering organizations.
Page 10, Line 5SECTION 3. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 10, Line 6takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 10, Line 7ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 10, Line 8that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 10, Line 9of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 10, Line 10act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 10, Line 11effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 10, Line 12November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.