Two more states are working on legislation to prevent children from accessing adult content and “harmful” content by forcing platforms to check ID. Starting this year, the state of Louisiana started requiring some websites to verify the ages of users to ensure minors do not get access.
In Arkansas, a similar bill has been introduced. This bill would require businesses hosting one-third or more content that could be considered “harmful” to minors to implement age verification systems. Businesses that do not comply would be held liable for the harm experienced by children exposed to nudity and other harmful content.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
The bill’s language is quite vague as it applies to businesses “that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material that may be harmful to minors on the internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of material that may be harmful to minors.”
Another legislator in Arkansas wants pornography to be blocked at the national level so that anything that does not match that definition is banned.
Utah is taking a slightly different approach. A bill was introduced that would ban minors from accessing social media platforms without parental consent. The legislation would also ban platforms from advertising to minors or using algorithms that make their platforms addictive to minors.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
