One of the last vestiges of bipartisan unity on a major social issue has emerged in the form of laws that require pornographic websites to verify the ages of users.
In 2022, Louisiana became the first state to enact legislation that required age verification software for websites where at least 33% of the hosted content is sexually explicit. Last year, the state was joined by Virginia, Utah, Montana, North Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
In nearly all cases, the bills passed with unanimous or near-unanimous support. Republicans and Democrats alike have been unified in taking this step to ensure that minors cannot access pornographic websites.
Because state legislatures are copycats, 2024 is poised to bring many more. An age-verification bill cleared the Indiana Senate this month on a 44-1 vote. Similar bills have been introduced in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Arizona.
The trend is not contained in the United States. Last year, the European Union enacted rules that require the three largest pornography websites to verify the ages of users.
As the 2024 state legislative sessions kick into high gear, the continued expansion of these age verification bills is a laudable development. It is already illegal to send or show pornographic images to minors, and pornographic websites are readily accessible to most children, given the ease of accessibility of the internet.
But since this is an issue that crosses state lines and affects the internet, Congressional action is needed. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) have introduced the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net Act or SCREEN Act that would codify age verification at the national level.
This issue is a political winner for all parties. According to polling conducted by the American Principles Project, age verification laws enjoy widespread public support, with approval as high as 83%. Opposition to such requirements, it seems, is reserved for the pornography industry itself, which has unsuccessfully sued to try and block these laws from taking effect.
One wonders why the pornography industry is so committed to ensuring that the impressionable minds of young people are exposed to sexually explicit images.
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Given the widespread bipartisan support for age verification at the state level and overwhelming support among the public, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) should have little trouble advancing age verification legislation at the national level.
And watching Republicans and Democrats offer a unified front on a major social issue would be a welcome occurrence amid such widespread political polarization.