Ohio Proposes Bill to Require Age Verification to Access Pornography
By Movieguide® Contributor
Ohio is one of many states that have proposed a bill that would require age verification to access pornography.
The proposed law, Senate Bill 212, would require people looking for pornographic materials to undergo an identification check through a third-party system.
Some people have spoken up about privacy concerns, but Lt. Governor Jon Husted said, “If you have privacy concerns, you shouldn’t be on websites and you shouldn’t be using these platforms because they collect all kinds of credit card information, all kinds of user data.”
Ohio state Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R) also discussed these privacy concerns, explaining, “We’re not trying to breach your privacy but, just like if you were going in to buy something here in the physical world, you would show your ID to show that you were over a certain age.”
Ohio is just the latest state to address the need for age verification on pornography sites.
“Age verification bills have been passed in eight states and introduced in another 10, according to the National Decency Coalition; laws in Louisiana, Virginia, Utah and Montana require age checks to ensure users on adult sites are at least 18 years old,” Courthouse News reported.
Due to laws like these, PornHub, the largest pornography website, has blocked all users in those states from accessing its site.
“The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow age restricted materials and websites based on that identification,” explained porn star and Pornhub spokesperson Cherie De Ville. “Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website.”
However, age-verification legislation is popular among most Americans. Movieguide® previously reported:
A recent poll from the American Principles Project (APP) found that 83% of American voters would support nationwide legislation requiring age verification on pornography websites.
The poll was conducted as pressure to require age verification on pornography websites has increased in the past year. Seven states have already passed laws requiring websites with pornographic content to verify a user’s age. The APP has been one of the biggest proponents of these laws.
“It should come as not shock that Americans don’t want their kids watching porn,” APP President Terry Schilling said in response to the poll data. “Beyond being simple common sense, the evidence is overwhelming that early exposure to sexual content can lead to many terrible consequences for a child’s mental and even physical health. Keeping them off porn sites is clearly a no-brainer.”
“Unfortunately, for too long, our lawmakers ignored the problem while access to online porn exploded among minors. But now, that’s finally changing. Despite the gaslighting by the porn industry, legislators are recognizing that action needs to be taken to safeguard our kids, and as this latest poll shows, Americans of all political stripes are behind them,” he continued.
“We expect a massive surge of age-verification laws being enacted in the near future, and we will continue to press forward until children are protected in all 50 states,” Schilling added.
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