Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 509.053

Current with legislation from the 2023 Regular and Special Sessions signed by the Governor as of November 21, 2023.

Section 509.053 - [Effective 9/1/2024] Digital Service Provider Duty To Prevent Harm To Known Minors

(a) In relation to a known minor's use of a digital service, a digital service provider shall develop and implement a strategy to prevent the known minor's exposure to harmful material and other content that promotes, glorifies, or facilitates:

(1) suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders;

(2) substance abuse;

(3) stalking, bullying, or harassment; or

(4) grooming, trafficking, child pornography, or other sexual exploitation or abuse.

(b) A strategy developed under Subsection (a):

(1) must include:

(A) creating and maintaining a comprehensive list of harmful material or other content described by Subsection (a) to block from display to a known minor;

(B) using filtering technology and other protocols to enforce the blocking of material or content on the list under Paragraph (A);

(C) using hash-sharing technology and other protocols to identify recurring harmful material or other content described by Subsection (a);

(D) creating and maintaining a database of keywords used for filter evasion, such as identifiable misspellings, hash-tags, or identifiable homoglyphs;

(E) performing standard human-performed monitoring reviews to ensure efficacy of filtering technology;

(F) making available to users a comprehensive description of the categories of harmful material or other content described by Subsection (a) that will be filtered; and

(G) except as provided by Section 509.058, making available the digital service provider's algorithm code to independent security researchers; and

(2) may include:

(A) engaging a third party to rigorously review the digital service provider's content filtering technology;

(B) participating in industry-specific partnerships to share best practices in preventing access to harmful material or other content described by Subsection (a); or

(C) conducting periodic independent audits to ensure:

(i) continued compliance with the digital service provider's strategy; and

(ii) efficacy of filtering technology and protocols used by the digital service provider.

Tex. Bus. and Comm. Code § 509.053

Added by Acts 2023, Texas Acts of the 88th Leg.- Regular Session, ch. 795,Sec. 2.01, eff. 9/1/2024.