South Dakota Committee Approves Age Verification Proposal

The proposal, currently titled “an Act to require age verification by websites containing material harmful to minors,” would amend § 22-24-27 of South Dakota law to require any “covered platform” to “implement reasonable age verification on the platform to verify the age of any individual who attempts to access material harmful to minors on the internet and prevent a minor’s access to that material.”

A violation of the amended law could constitute Class 1 misdemeanor, while any subsequent violation by the same covered platform would be a Class 6 felony. Like the Texas law that appears to have served as a model for the South Dakota proposal, violations would also give rise to civil liability and subject covered platforms to lawsuits from “attorney general or state’s attorney in the county where the affected child resides,” as well as “a parent, guardian, or custodian of a minor” who access a covered platform that is not in compliance with the law.

According to a report from South Dakota radio station SDPB, discussion of implementing an age verification requirement in the state “started during the 2024 session, but a bill was rejected by the state Senate,” after which lawmakers “set up an interim study group to look closer at the topic.”

“We worked hard,” said State Sen. Helene Duhamel, a Rapid City Republican who sits on the interim legislative committee. “We looked at lots of options. We heard from many parties and now have important amendments to make this a better bill. My goal all along was to find something that is constitutional and enforceable. I’m in.”

Supporters said they’re watching the Texas case closely.

“If that legislation in Texas is upheld, and we tie ourselves close to it, we’re going to know that we’re in great shape by some time later this year,” said State Rep. Tony Venhuizen, a Republican from Sioux Falls. “If it’s struck down, at least we’ll know that we’ve got off on the right track and we’ll have to figure it out. If we go off on a completely new directly, even in the best-case scenario we’re in litigation for a couple years. Even in the best base scenario it’s a couple years before we can protect kids.”

Under the proposal, “reasonable age verification” is defined as “any method by which a covered platform confirms that an individual attempting to access material harmful to minors is at least eighteen years of age by verifying: (a) A state-issued driver license or non-driver identification card; (b) A military identification card; (c) The individual’s bank account information; (d) A debit or credit card from the individual that requires the individual in ownership of the card to be at least eighteen years of age; or (e) Any other method that reliably and accurately determines if a user of a covered platform is a minor and prevents a minor from accessing the content of a covered platform.”

The term “covered platform” is defined under the proposal as “a website for which it is in the regular course of trade or business to create, host, or make available material harmful to minors.”

You can read the full text of the South Dakota proposal here.