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Pen. Code, § 312.6 · Chapter 7.5. Obscene Matter

Pen. Code, § 312.6

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) It does not constitute a violation of this chapter for a person or entity solely to provide access or connection to or from a facility, system, or network over which that person or entity has no control, including related capabilities that are incidental to providing access or connection. This subdivision does not apply to an individual or entity that is owned or controlled by, or a conspirator with, an entity actively involved in the creation, editing, or knowing distribution of communications that violate this chapter.

(b) An employer is not liable under this chapter for the actions of an employee or agent unless the employee’s or agent’s conduct is within the scope of his or her employment or agency and the employer has knowledge of, authorizes, or ratifies the employee’s or agent’s conduct.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this chapter and in any civil action that may be instituted based on a violation of this chapter that a person has taken reasonable, effective, and appropriate actions in good faith to restrict or prevent the transmission of, or access to, a communication specified in this chapter.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1080, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1997.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=312.6.
Text hash
sha256 48a1c3c51dff65a717a807e6e6eb81114a85a9e8d0943e9e435d330a9cc079a2
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.