(Credit: Getty Images/Isabel Pavia)
Louisiana residents looking to get their New Year's jollies were met this week by an age verification request before accessing online porn.
As of Sunday, Jan. 1, a new law requires websites containing 33.3% or more pornographic content to verify individuals' age using a government-issued form of identification.
The goal of HB 142—introduced last year by Rep. Laurie Schlegel (R-LA) and approved in June by Gov. John Bel Edwards—aims to not only keep anyone under the age of 18 from watching porn, but to hold accountable the websites that readily supply it.
"Pornography is creating a public health crisis and having a corroding influence on minors," the legislation text says. "Due to advances in technology, the universal availability of the internet, and limited age verification requirements, minors are exposed to pornography earlier in age."
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"Pornography is destroying our children and they're getting unlimited access to it on the internet and so if the pornography companies aren't going to be responsible, I thought we need to go ahead and hold them accountable," Schlegel, a licensed professional counselor and certified sex addiction therapist, told New Orleans-based Fox 8.
While many explicit websites already require users to enter their date of birth, most don't take the extra step to verify that information. Louisiana's new law, however, stipulates that websites check government-issued IDs (or, in a pinch, public or private records from a mortgage, education, or employment document) to verify folks' age, or suffer the consequences. Schlegel recommends collaborating with digital driver's license app LA Wallet—free for iOS and Android users.
There are, of course, loopholes, like using a fake ID or obscuring your location with a VPN. Websites could also reduce their pornographic material to 33.2%—0.1% under the legal limit.
The idea, meanwhile, has been tried before, most notably in the UK a few years ago. That effort would've required UK residents to buy a license to access porn, but it was ultimately cancelled amid concerns about privacy and data protection, among other things. In the US, lawmakers have also proposed porn filters for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
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