Current:Home > ScamsKansas moves to join Texas and other states in requiring porn sites to verify people’s ages -WealthPro Academy
Kansas moves to join Texas and other states in requiring porn sites to verify people’s ages
View
Date:2025-04-15 15:14:12
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is poised to require pornography websites to verify visitors are adults, a move that would follow Texas and a handful of other states despite concerns about privacy and how broadly the law could be applied.
The Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature passed the proposal Tuesday, sending it to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The House voted for it 92-31 and the Senate approved it unanimously last month. Kelly hasn’t announced her plans, but she typically signs bills with bipartisan backing, and supporters have enough votes to override a veto anyway.
At least eight states have enacted age-verification laws since 2022 — Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Utah and Virginia, and lawmakers have introduced proposals in more than 20 other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and an analysis from The Associated Press of data from the Plural bill-tracking service.
Weeks ago, a federal appeals court upheld the Texas age-verification requirement as constitutional and a the Oklahoma House sent a similar measure to the state Senate.
Supporters argue that they’re protecting children from widespread pornography online. Oklahoma Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, a sponsor of the legislation, said pornography is dramatically more available now than when “there might be a sixth-grade boy who would find a Playboy magazine in a ditch somewhere.”
“What is commonplace in our society is for a child to be alone with their digital device in their bedroom,” said Hasenbeck, a Republican representing a rural southwest Oklahoma district.
In Kansas, some critics questioned whether the measure would violate free speech and press rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Last year, that issue was raised in a federal lawsuit over the Texas law from the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry.
A three-judge panel of the conservative, New Orleans-based Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Texas’ age-verification requirement did not violate the First Amendment. The judges concluded that such a law can stand as long as a state has a rational basis for it and states have a legitimate interest in blocking minors’ access to pornography.
The Kansas bill would make it a violation of state consumer protection laws for a website to fail to verify that a Kansas visitor is 18 if the website has material “harmful to minors.” The attorney general then could go to court seeking a fine of up to $10,000 for each violation. Parents also could sue for damages of at least $50,000.
Under an existing Kansas criminal law, material is harmful to minors if it involves “nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse.”
But critics of the bill, mostly Democrats, argued that the law could be interpreted broadly enough that LGBTQ+ teenagers could not access information about sexual orientation or gender identity because the legal definition of sexual conduct includes acts of “homosexuality.” That means “being who we are” is defined as harmful to minors, said Rep. Brandon Woodard, who is gay and a Kansas City-area Democrat.
Woodard also said opponents don’t understand “how technology works.” He said people could bypass an age-verification requirement by accessing pornography through the dark web or unregulated social media sites.
Other lawmakers questioned whether the state could prevent websites based outside Kansas from retaining people’s personal information.
“The information used to verify a person’s age could fall into the hands of entities who could use it for fraudulent purposes,” said southeastern Kansas Rep. Ken Collins, one of two Republicans to vote against the bill.
Yet even critics acknowledged parents and other constituents have a strong interest in keeping minors from seeing pornography. Another southeastern Kansas Republican, Rep. Chuck Smith, chided the House because it didn’t approve the bill unanimously, as the Senate did.
“Kids need to be protected,” he said. “Everybody in here knows what pornography is — everybody.”
___
Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.
veryGood! (576)
Related
- Charges: D'Vontaye Mitchell died after being held down for about 9 minutes
- Hornets star LaMelo Ball sued for allegedly running over young fan's foot with car
- Study says more Americans smoke marijuana daily than drink alcohol
- Jessica Biel Shares Rare Update on Her and Justin Timberlake's 9-Year-Old Son Silas
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- Kansas women killed amid custody battle found buried in cow pasture freezer: Court docs
- Jessica Lange talks 'Mother Play,' Hollywood and why she nearly 'walked away from it all'
- Hosting This Summer? You Need To See These Stylish Patio Furniture Finds & Get Your Backyard Summer-Ready
- Charges: D'Vontaye Mitchell died after being held down for about 9 minutes
- Former University of Arizona grad student found guilty of murder in campus shooting of professor
Ranking
- A Georgia governor’s latest work after politics: a children’s book on his cats ‘Veto’ and ‘Bill’
- Kourtney Kardashian Details What Led to Emergency Fetal Surgery for Baby Rocky
- Emma Corrin Details “Vitriol” They’ve Faced Since Coming Out as Queer and Nonbinary
- Los Angeles Kings name Jim Hiller coach, remove interim tag
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Summer House Star Paige DeSorbo's Go-To Accessories Look Much More Expensive Than They Are
- From 'The Traitors' to '3 Body Problem,' these are the best TV shows of 2024
- TNT will begin airing College Football Playoff games through sublicense with ESPN
Recommendation
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Can Medicare money protect doctors from abortion crimes? It worked before, desegregating hospitals
Families of Uvalde school shooting victims are suing Texas state police over botched response
Are you spending more money shopping online? Remote work could be to blame.
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
Jennifer Lopez spotted without Ben Affleck at her premiere: When divorce gossip won't quit
Louisiana lawmakers approve bill similar to Texas’ embattled migrant enforcement law
Court halts foreclosure auction of Elvis Presley's Graceland home: 'Irreparable harm'