DENVER—A pair of Democratic state lawmakers in the Colorado General Assembly has introduced an age-verification bill that targets age restrictions at the operating system level, AVN has learned. The bill, Senate Bill (SB) 26-051, was introduced by state Sen. Matt Ball and state Rep. Amy Paschal earlier this year.
Under SB 26-051, all age assurance would be done at the operating system level on devices used within Colorado's digital space. The law would cover all major operating systems, including Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and others. Ball and Paschal indicated that they were inspired by a similar California law adopted in October.
As AVN reported, the California law, known as the Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), covers all platforms and major operating systems. The law enters force on Jan. 1, 2027, and requires proprietors of operating systems to develop a way for users to enter their ages and confirm them by that year's summer.
"SB 26-051 is very closely modeled on it," Sen. Ball said in an interview with PCMag. "One of the reasons for bringing SB 51 was that the tech and software industry is already complying with AB 1043, so there's minimal added burden."
Ball added, "The intent is to create thoughtful safeguards for kids online through a privacy-forward framework for age assurance." OS- and device-level age verification is considered by many in the adult entertainment industry to be a compromise that respects adults' privacy rights and freedom of expression.
"A person that violates the bill must pay a civil penalty of not more than $2,500 for each minor affected by each negligent violation or not more than $7,500 for each minor affected by each intentional violation," states a bill summary on SB 26-051.
"The penalty is assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the attorney general," the bill summary adds. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for February 24 before the Colorado Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee. It is likely the bill will advance to the desk of Gov. Jared Polis, also a Democrat and a civil libertarian.
Note that Gov. Polis positioned that he would veto an age verification bill introduced last year on the grounds that it could have been censorious and restrictive on speech protected by the First Amendment. That bill died in the Senate.
