What Virginia SB 1515 (2023) - Civil Liability for Commercial Internet Distribution of Material Harmful to Minors Without Age Verification (Va. Code Section 8.01-40.5) requires
Virginia Senate Bill 1515 (2023 Regular Session) enacted Chapter 811 of the Acts of Assembly, creating Virginia Code Section 8.01-40.5 effective 1 July 2023. The statute imposes civil liability on any commercial entity that knowingly or intentionally publishes or distributes on the internet material harmful to minors without performing reasonable age verification to confirm the user is 18 or older. The substantial portion threshold is more than 33 and one-third percent of the total material on a website meeting the harmful material definition (descriptions or representations of nudity or sexual content that appeal to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors; are patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors; and, when taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors). Reasonable age verification is satisfied by either a commercially available database regularly used by businesses or governmental entities for age and identity verification, or another commercially reasonable method of age and identity verification. A violating entity is liable to damaged minors and their parents for damages resulting from the minor's access to the harmful material, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs. The statute expressly does not impose obligations on interactive computer service providers or users (Section 230 safe harbor preserved). The substantive Virginia Code citation 'commercial entity' references the definition in Va. Code Section 8.01-49.1. Virginia is one of approximately twenty US states that have enacted commercial-website age-verification statutes following Louisiana Act 440 of 2022 (the first such state law); the litigation cluster includes the Free Speech Coalition challenges and the Supreme Court's review in FSC v. Paxton (2025). Virginia operators face the additional overlay of the federal 18 U.S.C. Section 2257 record-keeping framework for visual depictions of explicit conduct.
Pillar: Adult Industry & Sexual Content Compliance · Authority: Commonwealth of Virginia, General Assembly; SB 1515 approved by the Governor on 12 May 2023 as Chapter 811 of the 2023 Acts of Assembly; codified at Virginia Code Section 8.01-40.5 · Version: 1.0.0 · Last updated:
Primary source: https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0811
SHA-256 integrity: 12b9f5547ee7af85e6d46040def67528a314132641cb80ea862f7d7bb19c2d73
Primary Citations — 8 traced to source
- Virginia Acts of Assembly 2023, Chapter 811 (Senate Bill 1515), approved by the Governor on 12 May 2023, codified at Virginia Code Section 8.01-40.5, civil liability for commercial entity online publication of material harmful to minors without reasonable age verification, effective 1 July 2023
- Virginia Code Section 8.01-40.5(A) - definition of material harmful to minors using the Miller-derived three-part test and the more than 33 and one-third percent of total material substantial portion threshold
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