The Idaho Senate passed legislation Thursday that would make online pornography publishers and distributors vulnerable to civil liability if a minor accesses harmful material on the internet. It uses third-party age verification as a way to block that content from children. The House unanimously passed the bill on February Scott Herndon, R-Sagle. The bill would require adult websites to confirm the age of their users through a commercial age verification tool or by submission of a digitized identification card.
James Ruchti, D-Pocatello. The outlet reports the adult website network has blocked access for all users, not just minors, in response to age verification laws in Montana, North Carolina , Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Utah. Ars Technica reports that the U. Just hours before the Idaho Senate reconvened Thursday afternoon, Media reported that Pornhub and associated websites had blocked access to users in Texas. While blocking access to its typical pornographic content, the company is urging users in some states to contact their respective lawmakers with support for device-based age filtering, citing privacy concerns with requiring users to submit identification to access their websites.
A different bill the Senate passed last month would require age verification filters on smartphones and tablets activated for minors within the state of Idaho. Committee chair Rep. Crane said he was talking with industry representatives from Apple and Google about whether its requirements would be workable. He also said he was determining whether the members of his committee want to pass another age verification bill. The sponsor of the device filter bill, Sen. If you want to buy wine online, then we ask you to verify your age.
This is nothing new. Such that, if the law could be drafted some other way so that it does not impact the freedom of speech but gets to the same goal of the law, then it violates strict scrutiny. HB contains several paragraphs of legislative intent language in which it cites several U. The Miller Test is a three-pronged approach created by the U. Supreme Court to determine whether or not specific content qualifies as pornographic, and it is used in HB to define material harmful to minors.
Logan Finney is a North Idaho native with a passion for media production and boring government meetings. Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
