Law / United States / 
Virginia
SB 1515 (2023), civil liability for Internet publication of material harmful to minors
Va. Code § 8.01-40.5 (2023 Va. Acts c. 811)
In force since .
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
- Criminal exposure
- No
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Penalties
- Civil liability for damages, reasonable attorney fees, and costs.
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Applies to a commercial entity that knowingly publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on a website containing a substantial portion (more than one third) of such material.
- Verify that visitors are at least 18 years old using a commercially available age verification database or another commercially reasonable method.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Private civil action.
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- What makes "another commercially reasonable method of age and identity verification" sufficient under Va. Code Section 8.01-40.5(B) for a commercial entity that does not use a commercially available database?
- Does the exclusion in Va. Code Section 8.01-40.5(D) for "a provider or user of an interactive computer service" reach a commercial entity that hosts third-party material harmful to minors on its website?
What it reaches
Age threshold
18
Covered services
Websites where a substantial portion (more than one third) of content is material harmful to minors.
Obligation class
Age verification
Verification methods
Gov ID, Third party service
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- Substantial portion” means more than 33 and one-third percent of total material on a website that meets the definition of material harmful to minors.
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 8.01-40.5(B) requires a commercial entity that publishes material harmful to minors from a website with a substantial portion of such material to verify, using a commercially available database or another commercially reasonable method of age and identity verification, that a person attempting to access it is 18 or older, and (C) makes a violator civilly liable. It names no log, no record of the check, no retention or deletion rule and no regulator access to a record. The section names no territorial hook.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Commercial entities that knowingly publish or distribute material harmful to minors on websites containing a substantial portion of such material, as the Act defines that term, must verify that visitors are 18 or older using a commercially available age verification database or another commercially reasonable method.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app publishes adult content.
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