§ 129B.006.Civil Penalty; Injunction

Public enforcement only — the chapter creates no private claim.

Subsection (a): where the attorney general believes an entity is knowingly violating the chapter and the action is in the public interest, they may sue in a Travis County district court or the district court where the entity’s principal Texas place of business is, to enjoin the violation, recover a civil penalty, and obtain other relief.

Subsection (b) sets three penalty components, and they are cumulative: $10,000 per day of operating in violation of the age verification requirements; $10,000 per instance of retaining identifying information; and, if because of the violation one or more minors accesses such material, an additional amount of not more than $250,000.

The per-day component is the one with real force. A site operating for a year in violation faces $3.65 million before the other two components.

The third component turns on outcome rather than conduct, and requires the access to have occurred because of the violation.

Subsection (c) lists six factors setting the amount: the seriousness of the violation, the history of previous violations, the amount necessary to deter, the economic effect on the entity, the entity’s knowledge that the act was a violation, and any other matter that justice may require.

Subsection (d) allows the attorney general reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and costs.

The chapter has been the subject of sustained constitutional challenge on First Amendment grounds since its enactment as House Bill 1181 in 2023, and the litigation reached the United States Supreme Court.