Virginia, Utah, Louisiana Move to Limit Minors' Access to Porn
AllSides Summary
Virginia, Utah, and Louisiana have moved to limit minor's access to pornography in recent weeks, and a growing number of states are proposing legislation that would restrict children from viewing adult material online.
Key Details: There has been a national push to protect young people from potentially harmful content by requiring some online services to limit or bar minors on their platforms. On May 12, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signed age-verification into law, just as Utah and Louisiana have implemented similar laws.
Key Quotes: “[Pornography] has negative impacts on their brain, on their emotional development, on their own kind of self, the way they see themselves,” said Dawn Hawkins, CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCSE). Mike Stabile, public affairs director for the Free Speech Coalition, said “I don’t think they always understand what age verification could mean in terms of government surveillance, identity theft, and the burdens that come for an adult trying to access legal content.”
For Context: NCSE pointed to the success of a Google policy in September 2021 that required new safety defaults on Chromebooks used in K-12 classrooms. In addition, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed legislation in 2021 requiring all tablets and cellphones sold there to automatically block pornography.
How the Media Covered it: Some left-rated sources focused more on how the laws may change the internet or potentially restrict adults' access to porn.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Push to Block Porn Access for Minors Gains Steam with Virginia Set to Follow Louisiana, Utah
In Virginia, users will soon need to verify that they are at least 18 years old to access pornography websites, as a growing number of states consider legislation to protect children from viewing adult content.
Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin signed age-verification legislation into law on May 12, following in the footsteps of Louisiana and Utah, which have already implemented similar laws.
The laws require verification to access websites where at least one third of the content can be considered “material harmful to minors.” Users must provide government-issued IDs or biometric...
From the Left
States’ Push to Protect Kids Online Could Remake the Internet
People in Louisiana who visited Pornhub in recent months were met with a surprising new demand. Before they could stream sexually explicit videos, they had to provide proof that they were at least 18.
That’s because Louisiana lawmakers had passed legislation last year requiring publishers of online material that could be “harmful to minors” to verify that their users were adults.
Louisiana is at the forefront of a sweeping national push to insulate young people from potentially harmful content by requiring certain online services to bar or limit minors on their platforms. As a...
From the Center
Youngkin poised to sign bill requiring porn sites to verify user age
A bill that would require users to provide identification before viewing websites with nudity or sexual content looks likely to be signed into law this week — and some privacy and free speech advocates caution it could have far-reaching effects.
“I think when people talk about age verification for adult content it seems very simple,” said Mike Stabile, public affairs director for the Free Speech Coalition, a trade group that advocates on behalf of the adult entertainment industry. “I don’t think they always understand what age verification could mean in...
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