Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 10
Jim Banks Introduces Porn Site Age-Check Bill After 25 States Adopt Similar Rules
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 10

Jim Banks Introduces Porn Site Age-Check Bill After 25 States Adopt Similar Rules

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 10

Summary

  • Sen. Jim Banks on Tuesday unveiled the SAFE for Kids Act, which would require commercial pornography websites to verify users’ ages before granting access to explicit content.
  • The bill would let the FTC enforce the requirement, authorize DOJ investigations of intentional violations and allow parents or guardians to sue noncompliant platforms.
  • Banks’ office cited a 2023 Common Sense Media survey showing 73% of teens ages 13-17 had watched pornography online and 54% first saw it by age 13.
  • More than 25 states already have age-verification laws, and Banks’ office said the Supreme Court recently upheld such measures in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.
  • The proposal arrives as conservative advocacy groups including Heritage Action and the American Principles Project press Congress to create a nationwide standard.

Insights

Can new laws protect kids online without creating massive data security risks for all users?
Will mandatory age-gating shield children or just drive them to riskier, unregulated online spaces?
As age-checks expand from websites to devices, what is the future for anonymous online speech?