New York S 3591: Requires age verification for internet pornography websites

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
S03591 Summary:

BILL NOS03591 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS A03946

&nbsp

SPONSORASHBY

&nbsp

COSPNSRBORRELLO, CHAN, GALLIVAN, GRIFFO, HELMING, LANZA, MURRAY, OBERACKER, PALUMBO, RHOADS, SEPULVEDA,
 STEC, TEDISCO, WALCZYK, WEBER, WEIK

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §390-f, Gen Bus L

&nbsp

Requires age verification for internet pornography websites; imposes a $50,000 penalty per day for violations; provides exemptions for news organizations.

Go to top S03591 Actions:

BILL NOS03591 

&nbsp

01/28/2025REFERRED TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

03/21/2025NOTICE OF COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION - REQUESTED

05/05/2025REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO CODES

05/05/2025DEFEATED IN INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

01/07/2026REFERRED TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

03/06/2026NOTICE OF COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION - REQUESTED

05/21/2026DEFEATED IN INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

Go to topS03591 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS03591 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS03591 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 3591

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 January 28, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. ASHBY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technology

 AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring age
 verification for internet pornography websites

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
 2 390-f to read as follows:
 3 § 390-f. Age verification for internet pornography. 1. Definitions.
 4 For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the
 5 following meanings:
 6 (a) "Commercial entity" means a corporation, limited liability compa-
 7 ny, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship, or other
 8 legally recognized business entity.
 9 (b) "Digital identification" means information stored on a digital
 10 network that may be accessed by a commercial entity and that serves as
 11 proof of the identity of an individual and location of the individual.
 12 (c) "Distribute" means to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, trans-
 13 fer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any means.
 14 (d) "Minor" means an individual younger than eighteen years of age.
 15 (e) "News organization" means:
 16 (i) an employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news source,
 17 printed or on an online or mobile platform, of current news and public
 18 interest, who is acting within the course and scope of their employment
 19 and can provide documentation of such employment with such newspaper,
 20 news publication, or news source; and
 21 (ii) an employee of a radio broadcast station, television broadcast
 22 station, cable television operator, or wire service who is acting within
 23 the course and scope of their employment and can provide documentation
 24 of such employment.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD07950-02-5

 S. 3591 2

 1 (f) "Publish" means to communicate or make information available to
 2 another person or entity on a publicly available internet website.
 3 (g) "Reasonable age verification method" shall mean a method as
 4 described under subdivision three of this section.
 5 (h) "Sexual material harmful to minors" means any material that:
 6 (i) a reasonable person, applying contemporary community standards,
 7 would find, taking such material as a whole and with respect to minors,
 8 is designed to appeal to or pander to the prurient interest;
 9 (ii) in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors, exploits,
 10 is devoted to, or principally consists of descriptions of actual, simu-
 11 lated, or animated display or depiction of:
 12 (A) a person's pubic hair, anus, or genitals or the nipple of the
 13 female breast;
 14 (B) touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, buttocks,
 15 anuses, or genitals; or
 16 (C) sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copula-
 17 tion, flagellation, excretory functions, exhibitions, or any other sexu-
 18 al act; and
 19 (iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political,
 20 or s