WV HB4412

Commercial entities publishing sexual material harmful to minors on websites where such content comprises more than 33.3% of total material must verify users are 18 or older through government-issued ID, digital identification, or transactional data verification systems

Entities and third-party verifiers are prohibited from retaining any identifying information after granting access, and must follow National Institute of Standards and Technology best practices for limiting personally identifiable information transfers

Individuals harmed by age verification failures can sue for $10,000 per violation plus actual damages and attorney fees, with a 5-year statute of limitations from discovery of the violation

The Attorney General may bring civil actions with penalties up to $10,000 per day of non-compliance, $10,000 per instance of improper data retention, and up to $250,000 if minors access harmful material due to verification failures

Internet service providers, search engines, and cloud service providers are exempt from liability if they are not the creators of the harmful content, and news-gathering organizations are also excluded from the article's requirements