Pornhub is now required to demand age verification from those seeking to access the site in Louisiana.
Authored by Representative Laurie Schlegel, Louisiana state House Bill 142 was signed by Governor John Bel Edwards in June and became effective as of January 1, 2023. It requires adult sites that contains 33.3 percent or more pornographic material to screen visitors via “reasonable age verification,” such as a driving license or some other age-identifying ID card.
In Louisiana, users can verify their age with AllpassTrust, operating with the state's digital ID service LA Wallet.
Twitter screenshot of Pornhub page requiring visitors to verify their age.
© Photo : Twitter
Pornography, underscores the legislation, can "contribute to the hyper-sexualization of children and lead to low self-esteem, body image disorders, and risky sexual behavior."
Material that is considered "harmful to minors" is defined as "appealing to prurient interests and lacking serious artistic, literary, political, or scientific value for someone under 18 years old."
The law also states that if sites fail to comply with the new ID-requirements, the company could be held liable and face fines.
“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,” said Schlegel.
The certified sex addiction therapist added that everything from fatigue, lack of motivation and depression to erectile dysfunction can be directly linked to porn.
“It’s tied to some of the biggest societal ills of human trafficking and sexual assault. And in my own practice, the youngest we’ve ever seen is an 8-year-old,” Laurie Schlegel stated.
'Public Health Crisis'
Previously, pornography was declared to be a public health crisis by legislators in a number of US states, with adult content sites in Utah required to provide users with warnings before access. The Beehive State is also mulling introducing age verification. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced a bill - the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net Act - that would require age verification for adult sites at federal level.
Amid privacy concerns and fears of data breaches that have been voiced over the issue, B142 emphasizes that companies performing age verification “shall not retain any identifying information...after access has been granted.” Pornhub similarly underscored that “your proof of age does not allow anyone to trace your online activity.”