Nebraska Online Age Verification Liability Act

• January 9, 2024 – Introduced in the Nebraska Legislature.
• April 23, 2024 – Passed and signed into law.
• October 1, 2024 – Law takes effect (default for non-emergency legislation).

• Commercial entities that knowingly and intentionally publish or distribute material harmful to minors on websites with a substantial portion of such material (more than one-third).
• Third-party age verification providers performing verifications.

• News-gathering organizations and public interest broadcasters.
• Internet utilities, such as ISPs, search engines, and cloud providers, not responsible for creating or hosting the content.

• Implement a reasonable age verification method, such as:
  • Digitized identification cards (e.g., digital driver's license).
  • Government-issued ID.
  • Financial or other reliable documents.
  • Commercially reasonable methods using transactional data.
• Do not retain any identifying information after granting access.

• Verify user age before granting access to material harmful to minors.
• Ensure that no identifying data is retained after access is granted.
• Apply verification if more than one-third of a site’s content is harmful to minors.

In addition to the responsibilities described above, businesses must also meet these content-based requirements if more than one-third of their website contains material harmful to minors:

• A website must host content that qualifies as “material harmful to minors.” This is defined by a three-part legal test:

  1. The content appeals to the prurient interest based on community standards.

  2. It is patently offensive to what is suitable for minors.

  3. It lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

• Age verification is only required if this type of content is accessible without login, subscription, or paywall protection.

• Businesses must ensure that age verification occurs before any harmful content is displayed, so minors do not encounter the content before being screened.

• Right to data privacy – identifying data must not be stored.
• Right to civil remedies:
  • Equitable relief (e.g., injunction).
  • Actual damages.
  • Attorney’s fees and litigation costs.
• Right for parents/guardians to take legal action on behalf of minors.

• Enforcement is entirely civil and initiated by private individuals or parents/guardians on behalf of minors.
• Private right of action – individuals may bring lawsuits against noncompliant entities.
• Actual damages available for violations of both access and data retention requirements.
• Courts may award attorney’s fees and costs at their discretion.