WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has slated a markup session this week for the SCREEN Act, which would mandate site-based age verification of users accessing adult content online on a national level.
Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, his third attempt at shepherding such legislation through Congress, in early 2025. Republican Rep. Mary Miller introduced a companion bill in the House. However, neither version saw any movement for a year.
Then, in March, the House Energy and Commerce Committee incorporated an amended version of the SCREEN Act into the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, an omnibus bill combining a suite of online safety bills. In June, the House of Representatives passed the KIDS Act, but the bill has encountered stiff opposition in the Senate — not because of the SCREEN Act provisions, but due to House/Senate disagreements over language in a more prominent bill included in the package: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the Senate version of which will also be on the agenda during Wednesday’s markup session.
The committee’s revival of the standalone SCREEN Act likely signals senators’ intent to push forward various pieces of online safety legislation individually rather than as part of the House’s KIDS Act package.
Violations of the SCREEN Act’s AV requirements would be treated as a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act’s prohibition against unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Violators would therefore be subject to civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation.
Free Speech Coalition (FSC) Director of Public Policy Mike Stabile called the SCREEN Act a "particularly egregious" national AV bill.
"It would not only impact adult sites, but any platform that allows 'harmful' material, including X, Reddit and Amazon," Stabile told XBIZ, noting that FSC Executive Director Alison Boden was recently in Washington meeting with some of the legislators on the Senate committee.
"We've been especially aggressive in our efforts since it was placed on the Senate Commerce calendar last week," Stabile said. "We're currently working with our allies and sounding the alarm in and out of the industry on this bill. FSC members should be calling their senators telling them to oppose the SCREEN Act."
FSC has created a link to help people immediately contact their representatives about the bill, and is encouraging members to use it themselves, as well as share it with colleagues, members and fans.