The need to submit a government-issued ID to view online porn could expand to several states outside Louisiana due to copycat legislation.
Lawmakers in seven US states have introduced “virtually identical” bills to require age verification on porn sites, according to the Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment trade group.
Vice also spoke to the state lawmaker behind the Arkansas bill. “My hope is that we protect children and their innocence in state of Arkansas and then send a message across the country that we need something similar built into federal law as well,” said Republican State Sen. Tyler Dees. Other states considering the copyright legislation include Florida, Mississippi, and Virginia.
Louisiana's law, which came into effect this year, requires websites containing 33.3% or more pornographic content to verify the user’s age with a government-issued ID.
Adult sites found violating the law can face civil lawsuits from parents over claims their children ended up viewing “material harmful to minors.” As a result, Pornhub in January began asking users in the state to submit ID when visiting the site.
However, the age verification porn laws could also pose a privacy nightmare if the government-issued IDs end up in ad-targeting schemes or fall into the wrong hands. Louisiana’s own law stipulates “the required age verification shall not retain any identifying information of the individual after access has been granted to the material.” But whether porn sites and third-party partners can follow the rule precisely, and without any flaws, is another matter.
It’s also doubtful the age-verification requirement can even prevent minors from accessing online porn. An underage user could easily circumvent the government ID check with a VPN or by submitting an ID belonging to an adult.
In the meantime, the Free Speech Coalition notes lawmakers in other states—including Oregon, Texas and South Carolina—have floated similar age-verification legislation for porn sites.