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Topics: US News
Jess Hardiman
A US state is now forcing people to provide age verification to watch pornography, thanks to a new law that goes into effect tomorrow (1 January 2023).
Louisiana will now require people to verify their age if accessing websites containing at least a third of pornographic material.
It will be the website's responsibility to confirm that users are aged 18 or over.
HB 142 - the law requiring age verification for any website that contains 33.3 percent or more pornographic content - was introduced by Republican state representative Laurie Schlegel earlier this year, having been signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards in June.
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Schlegel said websites would work in partnership with app LA Wallet to verify a user’s age, adding that there would be consequences for those who failed to follow the law.
She said: “Pornography is destroying our children and they are given unlimited access to it on the internet. So if the pornography companies aren’t responsible, I figured we need to go ahead and hold them accountable.”
Sara Kelley, project manager with Envoc - the creator of LA Wallet - said the app was a 'must have' for 'anyone who has a Louisiana state ID or driver’s license'.
She told WAFB that there are other ways that websites may ask users to verify their age if they are not able to access LA wallet, adding that while some personal information will be required, companies should not retain personal data after the verification process has taken place.
Kelley explained: “It doesn’t identify your date of birth, it doesn’t identify who you are, where you live, what part of the state you’re in, or any information from your device or from your actual ID. It just returns that age to say that yes, this person is old enough to be allowed to go in."
Schlegel - who is also a certified sex addiction therapist - said someone could 'sue on behalf of their child' if children are gaining access to pornography.
"It would be up to the user to sue the company for not verifying age first,” she continued, arguing that problems including depression, erectile dysfunction, lack of motivation and fatigue can be linked to porn.
“It’s tied to some of the biggest societal ills of human trafficking and sexual assault," Schlegel said.
"And in my own practice, the youngest we’ve ever seen is an 8-year-old."
She also stressed that the law is now aiming to limit porn that adults can access, saying the bill is 'strictly about protecting children'.
"It's going to be up to the pornography companies to comply and obviously, how people will hold them accountable," Schlegel said.