DES MOINES, Iowa—An age-verification proposal targeting adult entertainment platforms and platforms that feature a substantial portion of content classified as harmful to minors has advanced through the Iowa state legislature.
The proposal is House File (HF) 2274, which requires site-level verification for apps and websites.
Republican state Rep. Bill Gustoff, an attorney and conservative Christian representing House District 40, is the sponsor of HF 2274. Under the bill, the parent companies of adult websites, apps and mainstream social media networks are prohibited from operating in Iowa's digital space unless they use age verification.
Covered platforms under the bill are defined as having at least one-third, or a substantial portion, of their content deemed as pornographic and/or harmful to minors.
If signed into law, enforcement authority would be delegated to the Iowa Attorney General's Office, led by the elected Republican Brenna Bird. With such authority, Bird and her office could seek injunctions and civil penalties against private companies, particularly those in the adult entertainment industry, for non-compliance. Penalties are also stacked by design: each count of non-compliance constitutes a separate violation, with fines ranging up to $1,000 per violation and capped at $10,000 per day.
HF 2274 most recently advanced out of a House subcommittee to a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee for further review and markup. The likelihood of this bill becoming law is very high, especially since most states in the Midwest already have laws or regulations requiring age verification for adult content and pornography.
Adult industry trade organization the Free Speech Coalition is currently tracking the bill on behalf of its members.
