Missouri 2025 Regular Session Status: Passed House Bipartisan · 14 R · 2 D cosponsors
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HB 236 — Establishes provisions relating to civil liability for publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the internet

Last action — Dropped from Calendar - Pursuant to House Rules (H)

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “Passed House” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read HB 236 on the official Missouri source →

How this bill changes current law

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This bill amends 1 section(s) of the Missouri Revised Statutes: Section 537.104, RSMo.

  • Section 537.104, RSMo

    ("Commercial entity", includes corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, limited partnerships, sole proprietorships, or other legally recognized entities; ("Distribute", to issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, transfer, transmute, circulate, or disseminate by any means; (3"Internet", the international computer network of both federal and nonfederal interoperable packet-switched data networks; (4) "Material harmful to minors", all of the following: (a) Any material that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find taking the material as a whole and with respect to minors is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest; (b) Any of the following material that exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction of any of the following, in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors: a. Pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or nipple of the female breast; bold-face b. Touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or Sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act; and (c) The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors; (5) "Minor", any person under eighteen years of age; (6) "News-gathering organization", any of the following: (a) An employee of a newspaper, news publication, or news source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of current news and public interest, while operating as an employee as provided in this paragraph, who can provide documentation of such employment with the newspaper, news publication, or news source; or (b) An employee of a radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable television operator, or wire service while operating as an employee as provided in this paragraph, who can provide documentation of such employment; (7) "Publish", to communicate or make material available to another person or entity on a publicly available internet website; (8) "Reasonable age-verification methods", any commercially available database that is regularly used by businesses or governmental entities for the purpose of age and identity verification, or any other commercially reasonable method of age and identity verification. 2. (1) Any commercial entity for which it is in the regular course of trade or business to publish or distribute in this state a website in which thirty-three percent or more of total material on the website is material harmful to minors shall be held liable if the entity fails to perform reasonable age-verification methods to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the material. (2) The age-verification provider shall not retain any identifying information of the individual after access has been granted or denied to the material. (3) (a) Any commercial entity that is found to have violated this section shall be liable to an individual for damages resulting from a minor accessing the material, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees as ordered by the court. (b) A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly retained identifying information of the individual after access has been granted to the individual shall be liable to the individual for damages resulting from retaining the identifying information, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees as ordered by the court. 3. (1) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any bona fide news or public interest broadcast, website video, report, or event and shall not be construed to affect the rights of any news-gathering organizations. (2) No internet service provider or its affiliates or subsidiaries, search engine, or cloud service provider shall be held to have violated the provisions of this section for providing access or connection to or from a website or ot

    amended

Action History

  1. Dropped from Calendar - Pursuant to House Rules (H)

  2. Placed on the Informal Third Reading Calendar (H)

  3. Placed Back on Third Reading Calendar (H)

  4. Placed on the Informal Third Reading Calendar (H)

  5. Placed Back on Third Reading Calendar (H)

  6. Placed on the Informal Third Reading Calendar (H)

  7. Perfected (H)

  8. HCS Adopted (H)

  9. Title of Bill - Agreed To

  10. Taken Up for Perfection (H)

  11. Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 8 NOES: 1 PRESENT: 0

  12. Voted Do Pass (H)

  13. Executive Session Completed (H)

  14. Referred: Rules - Administrative(H)

  15. HCS Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 16 NOES: 0 PRESENT: 0

  16. HCS Voted Do Pass (H)

  17. Executive Session Completed (H)

  18. Public Hearing Completed (H)

  19. Referred: Children and Families(H)

  20. Read Second Time (H)

  21. Read First Time (H)

  22. Prefiled (H)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 15 co-sponsors · 183 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (15)

Not signed on (183)

183 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Subjects

civil-rights technology

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Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HB 236?
HB 236 is sponsored by Scott Miller (Republican), Bill Lucas (Republican), Carolyn Caton (Republican), Danny Busick (Republican), Bill Irwin (Republican), John Hewkin (Republican), Mitch Boggs (Republican), Josh Hurlbert (Republican), Mark Sharp (Democratic), Marlene Terry (Democratic), Mike Costlow (Republican), Renee Reuter (Republican), Tricia Byrnes (Republican), Melissa Schmidt (Republican), Brad Banderman (Republican), and Sherri Gallick (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 236?
This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “Passed House” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track HB 236?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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