PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 14, 1996
Online Parental Control Act of 1996 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the use of a telephone for making communications that are harmful to minors (currently, indecent). Prohibits the use of an interactive computer service to send or make available to any person under 18 years of age a communication that is harmful to minors. (Current law prohibits any such communication that depicts or describes, in patently offensive terms, sexual or excretory activities or organs.) Defines "harmful to minors" for purposes of such changes. Protects from Federal communications indecency laws any person who in good faith: (1) labeled the communication as inappropriate for minors; (2) placed such communications in a segregated access site identified as inappropriate for minors; (3) otherwise established a mechanism for enabling such communication to be automatically blocked or screened; or (4) installed or provided some device, system, or method that allows adults to prevent access to such communications by minors. Protects from criminal or civil liability under State law any provider or user of an interactive computer service, information content provider, or access software provider that takes one of the above steps.
People & committees
Rep. Eshoo, Anna G. [D-CA-14] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance.
Referred to the House Committee on Commerce.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E358)
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.3089 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.3089 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.3089 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.3089 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.