New State Law Requires Age Verification to Watch Online Porn

Louisiana’s age-verification law took effect on New Year’s Day.
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A new law in Louisiana requires porn websites to include age-verification procedures. State Representative Laurie Schlegel sponsored HB 142, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2023. 

“Online pornography is extreme and graphic and only one click away from our children,” Schlegel tweeted on Dec. 29. “If pornography companies refuse to be responsible, then we must hold them accountable. This law is a first step.”

Online pornography is extreme and graphic and only one click away from our children. This is not your daddy’s Playboy. And if pornography companies refuse to be responsible, then we must hold them accountable. This law is a first step. @SenMikeLee @NCOSE @MattWalshBlog https://t.co/NGDcYctw5F

— Rep. Laurie Schlegel (@RepSchlegel) December 29, 2022

The measure cleared both houses almost unanimously and was signed by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards last June. It impacts any website that contains 33.3% or more material considered “harmful to minors.”

Sites can verify a visitor’s age using LA Wallet, an app initially designed to download Lousiana IDs for driving purposes. According to Schlegel, parents could sue if their underage children were able to access a porn site lacking an age-verification filter. 

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah would like to see similar restrictions in place nationwide.

Lee, a Republican, introduced the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net, or SCREEN Act, to the US Senate in December.