However, some say the legislation raises data privacy concerns while doing little to keep minors out of pornographic websites.
Under the bill, verifying the age of a person trying to access these sites would go a step further than simply typing in a date of birth, said patron Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, during a House subcommittee last month. Websites, he said, would have to implement more advanced methods of their choosing to verify age, such as requiring users to submit copies of government-issued identification, biometric scans or use other forms of commercial age verification software.
“What we’ve had is the unfettered wild, wild west ability of these pornography sites, such as YouPorn and Pornhub, to have someone who accesses their site without restriction to age,” Stanley said.
The legislation aims to address the “epidemic” of childhood exposure to pornography, Stanley said.
Most children see adult material online by the age of 12, with 15% seeing it by age 10 or younger, according to a 2022 report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit media company focused on kids and families.
Stanley said that under the bill, a civil cause of action, or a lawsuit, could be brought on behalf of a minor who suffered damages from access to pornographic websites that didn’t use age verification measures.
In an interview this week Stanley said he crafted the legislation after talking with parents and doing research, which led him to a similar statute that went into effect in Louisiana this year.
This story is written and reported by our media partner The Virginia Mercury. Read more
