Pornography websites have begun limiting or banning access to their sites in Alabama in response to a law passed earlier this year requiring age verification to access content.
House Bill 164 (HB164) by State Rep. Ben Robbins (R-Sylacauga) flew through the Alabama legislature earlier this year. Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law in April, and it is slated to go into effect on Tuesday.
The act requires websites that provide pornography and similar sexual material to require age verification before accessing the site. It also requires that the website operators cannot collect or retain personally identifying information after the age has been established.
"Due to advances in technology and the universal availability of the Internet, young children are more easily exposed to pornography than ever before, with the average age of exposure now being only 11 to 12 years of age," The act reads. "Pornography treats people as objects and commodities for the viewer's use. Pornography normalizes violence and abuse, often depicts rape and abuse as being harmless fun, and increases the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, and child pornography."
"Pornography is a public health crisis leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms. This state has a compelling governmental interest to take action, and this act serves as the most narrowly tailored approach to prevent pornography exposure and addiction to minors and to educate individuals and families concerning its very serious harms."
In response to the impending restriction, some sites, including PornHub, the most popular porn site in the world, have completely restricted access to its content, offering an explanation when accessing the page.
"As you may know, your elected officials in Alabama are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website," the statement reads. "While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk."
The statement also asks users to contact their legislators to ask for another solution.
"The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification. Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Alabama."
Despite the actions of the sites, Robbins told 1819 News that he believed the legislation was a "big step towards protecting children in their mental development."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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