United States of America: Bill prohibiting access to child sexual abuse material by content providers (HB 752) was signed by Governor

n 8 May 2025, the Governor of Montana signed the Bill prohibiting content providers from allowing access to child sexual abuse material in Montana (HB 752) into law. The Bill prohibits content providers from making child sexual abuse material accessible in Montana, with most provisions coming into force on 1 October 2025. The final text defines content providers as entities that create, produce, publish, distribute or store visual content. It excludes internet service providers, search engines and infrastructure providers, unless they are directly engaged in prohibited conduct. The Bill defines a "substantial amount" of sexually explicit material as 5% or more of a provider's content, and applies to those earning more than USD 500'000 annually from such content. It includes a 96-hour safe harbour period for removing material after acquiring actual knowledge of its existence. Statutory damages range from USD 100'000 for strict liability to USD 5 million for intentional violations. Of this, 50% or 80% is allocated to victims, 35% or 60% to private plaintiffs and 15–40% to the state. The statute of limitations is 15 years for victims and 10 years for other plaintiffs. The Bill also provides exemptions for hyperlinking and protections for providers that report material to law enforcement. Civil actions may be brought by the Montana Department of Justice and private parties, and the Bill is codified under a new chapter of Title 30 of the Montana Code Annotated.