§ 25-21,291.Terms, defined.

Article 21: Special Proceedings and Actions · Last amended 2025 · Last verified July 22, 2026

In one sentenceThis section defines twelve terms used throughout the Exploited Children’s Civil Remedy Act, including who counts as a participant or portrayed observer, what it means to aid or assist in creating or distributing a visual depiction, and which terms borrow their meaning directly from section 28-1802.

Full Text of § 25-21,291

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For purposes of the Exploited Children's Civil Remedy Act:

(1) Access software provider means a provider of software, including client or server software, or enabling tools that do any one or more of the following: (a) Filter, screen, allow, or disallow content; (b) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or (c) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset, organize, reorganize, or translate content;

(2) Aid or assist another with the creation, distribution, or active acquisition of child sexual abuse material means help a principal in some appreciable manner with the creation, distribution, or active acquisition of a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct which has a child as one of its participants or portrayed observers. The term also includes knowingly employing, forcing, authorizing, inducing, or otherwise causing a child to engage in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct which has a child as one of its participants or portrayed observers.

No parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or person with custody and control of a child, knowing the content thereof, may consent to such child engaging in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct which has a child as one of its participants or portrayed observers;

(3) Cable operator means any person or group of persons (a) who provides cable service over a cable system and directly or through one or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such cable system or (b) who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any arrangement, the management and operation of such a cable system;

(4) Child has the same meaning as in section 28-1802;

(5) Create means to knowingly create, make, manufacture, direct, publish, finance, or in any manner generate;

(6) Distribute means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from one person, source, or location to another person, source, or location. The term includes, but is not limited to, renting, selling, delivering, displaying, advertising, trading, mailing, procuring, circulating, lending, exhibiting, transmitting, transmuting, transferring, disseminating, presenting, or providing any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct which has a child as one of its participants or portrayed observers;

(7) Interactive computer service means any information service system or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational institutions;

(8) Participant means a child who appears in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and is portrayed or actively engaged in acts of sexually explicit conduct appearing therein;

(9) Portrayed observer means a child who appears in any visual depiction where sexually explicit conduct is likewise portrayed or occurring within the child's presence or in the child's proximity;

(10) Sexually explicit conduct has the same meaning as in section 28-1802;

(11) Telecommunications service means the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used; and

(12) Visual depiction has the same meaning as in section 28-1802.

Source

Laws 2010, LB728, § 2; Laws 2025, LB383, § 7.

Plain-English Summary

Section 25-21,291 supplies the vocabulary the rest of the Exploited Children’s Civil Remedy Act depends on. Some terms describe roles: a participant is a child portrayed or actively engaged in acts of sexually explicit conduct within a visual depiction, while a portrayed observer is a child who appears in a depiction where such conduct occurs in the child’s presence or proximity without the child necessarily taking part. Others describe conduct: to create means to knowingly create, make, manufacture, direct, publish, finance, or otherwise generate a depiction; to distribute covers any actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a depiction from one person, source, or location to another, by renting, selling, delivering, trading, mailing, or a long list of comparable acts.

The definition of aiding or assisting is broad. It covers helping a principal in any appreciable way with the creation, distribution, or active acquisition of the material, and it separately covers knowingly employing, forcing, authorizing, inducing, or otherwise causing a child to take part in such a depiction. The section closes one potential loophole directly: no parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or other person with custody and control of a child can give valid consent to that child engaging in a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, regardless of what that adult knew.

A last set of definitions covers the technology and entities the act’s immunity provisions later reference — access software provider, interactive computer service, telecommunications service, and cable operator — along with three terms, child, sexually explicit conduct, and visual depiction, that carry the same meaning given to them in section 28-1802.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a “participant” and a “portrayed observer”?

A participant is a child portrayed or actively engaged in acts of sexually explicit conduct appearing in the depiction. A portrayed observer is a child who appears where such conduct is portrayed or occurring in the child’s presence or proximity, without necessarily engaging in it.

What does it mean to “aid or assist” in creating or distributing a visual depiction?

It means helping a principal in any appreciable manner with the creation, distribution, or active acquisition of the material, and it also covers knowingly employing, forcing, authorizing, inducing, or otherwise causing a child to engage in such a depiction.

Can a parent or guardian consent to a child appearing in this type of depiction?

No. The section states directly that no parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or person with custody and control of a child may consent to the child engaging in such a depiction, regardless of what that person knew.

Does this section define “child” on its own?

No. “Child” carries the same meaning given to it in section 28-1802, as do “sexually explicit conduct” and “visual depiction.”

Why does the act define terms like “access software provider” and “interactive computer service”?

Those definitions set up the immunity that section 25-21,292 later extends to providers of interactive computer service, telecommunications service, and cable operators acting in that capacity.

What does “distribute” cover under this act?

Any actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a depiction from one person, source, or location to another, including renting, selling, delivering, displaying, advertising, trading, mailing, exhibiting, transmitting, and comparable acts.

Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: exploited children’s act definitionsparticipant versus portrayed observer nebraskaaid or assist definition child exploitationaccess software provider meaningvisual depiction definition section 28-1802