Porn Perusers in This State Now Have an Extra Step

New law in Louisiana mandates commercial porn sites in that state ask for ID showing age verification
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 3, 2023 11:58 AM CST
Louisiana Adds Hurdle for Viewers of Porn
Get that driver's license ready if you're feeling frisky in Louisiana.   (Getty Images/Chainarong Prasertthai)

A year ago, during an interview with radio host Howard Stern, singer Billie Eilish confessed to a pornography addiction that started at age 11, calling it a habit that "really destroyed my brain." Professional counselor and sex addiction therapist Laurie Schlegel, who also happens to be a Republican state legislator in Louisiana, heard that conversation and decided to introduce a bill last year that went into effect Sunday in the Bayou State, requiring that commercial porn sites get age verification from users there, either via a driver's license or other valid identification, per USA Today. Such ID can include other government-issued documents or public or private paperwork that show one's age, including mortgage, education, or employment documents.

The onus of asking for such identification will fall on any website where more than 33.3% of its total content can be considered porn. "Pornography is destroying our children and they're getting unlimited access to it on the internet," Schlegel says, per WFAB. "If the pornography companies aren't going to be responsible, I thought we need to go ahead and hold them accountable." That means, in theory, that Louisiana parents can now bring a civil lawsuit against companies if their children access pornographic material on qualifying sites. GOP Sen. Mike Lee has introduced similar federal legislation called the Shielding Children's Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, which would fall under the FCC's domain.

For those concerned about privacy issues, Schlegel's bill mandates that the porn sites can't hold onto users' info after they're verified to enter the site. "I think they're one of the biggest miners of data," Schlegel says, per USA Today. "I made sure in my bill ... if anybody were to hold someone's data throughout this process, then someone could sue." Mashable notes that users of such popular sites as Pornhub who also happen to live in Louisiana aren't happy about the news. "Hello from the surveillance state of Louisiana," one commenter notes, concluding with a reference to The Handmaid's Tale: "This is truly wild. Under his eye." (More Pornhub stories.)

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