Law / United States / 
Kentucky
HB 278, age verification for matter harmful to minors
KRS 436.001 to 436.009 (2024 Ky. Acts ch. 106)
In force since .
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Applies to commercial entities that knowingly publish or distribute matter harmful to minors on a website containing a substantial portion of such material.
- Perform reasonable age verification of Kentucky users, confirming they are 18 or older.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Penalties
Private civil action for at least $10,000 per instance a minor accessed harmful material, plus actual damages, court costs, and attorney fees.
Statutory damages
KRS 436.002(2)(a): $10,000 per instance the covered platform failed to perform age verification to restrict a minor's access, plus actual damages, court costs and attorney's fees under 436.002(2)(b). A separate liquidated figure applies to unlawful retention of identifying information under KRS 436.004(2)(a): $1,000 for each 24-hour period the information is retained, plus actual damages, court costs and attorney's fees.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 10,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
None; KRS 436.006 expressly prohibits enforcement by governmental entities or officers, leaving only private civil actions.
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- How is 'more than one-third (1/3)' of material that 'is matter harmful to minors' measured under KRS 436.002(1) for a covered platform that publishes mixed content, for example by number of items, pages or running time?
- What counts as one 'instance that the covered platform failed to perform age verification' under KRS 436.002(2)(a), such as each page view, each session or each visiting minor, for the $10,000 damages figure?
What it reaches
Age threshold
18
Covered services
Websites where a substantial portion of content is matter harmful to minors.
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
Data subject residence, User location
Obligation class
Age verification, Retention
Verification methods
Gov ID, Transactional data
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- any covered platform that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material on the internet, more than one-third (1/3) of which is matter harmful to minors
What it makes you log
Log retention
A platform or third party found to have knowingly retained it is liable for $1,000 for each 24 hour period of retention plus actual damages, court costs and attorney's fees.
- As of
- Basis
- Fixed
- Prohibits retaining
- Identifying information of the individual, which a covered platform or a third party that performs the age verification may not retain after access has been granted to the matter
Logging duty
KRS 436.002(1) makes a covered platform liable if it fails to perform age verification of individuals attempting to access matter harmful to minors. It does not require a log or record of the check, and it names no audit; KRS 436.006 leaves enforcement to private civil actions alone. KRS 436.004 instead bars keeping identifying information after access is granted.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Commercial entities that knowingly publish or distribute matter harmful to minors on a website containing a substantial portion of such material must perform reasonable age verification of Kentucky users.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app publishes adult content.
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