Watching Porn in Louisiana Now Requires an I.D.
Tough times if you're a sexually frustrated teenager in Louisiana. Because the state just started carding people to watch PORN.
A new law took effect in Louisiana this week that requires people to verify their age with I.D. before they can watch PORN online. A similar bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate last month that would do the same thing nationwide.
Louisiana passed a bill last year to make adult content sites check I.D.'s to verify users are over 18. If they don't do it, parents can now sue. It just went into effect this week.
The bill passed the state House in June with a 96-to-1 vote. The only person who voted against it was a Democrat named Mandie Landry, who called the law "unconstitutional" and "likely unenforceable."
Sites like Pornhub added a new verification process this week that people in Louisiana have to go through before they can access any X-rated content.
There's a "Check My Age" button . . . only government-issued I.D.'s work, like a driver's license . . . and if you're under 18, you can't get in. (Here's what the sign-in page looks like.)
They say it's all private, and they're not saving people's info or tracking anyone. The law actually makes it illegal to. The only loophole is sites don't have to do it if less than a third of their content qualifies as "porn."
People who support the law think it's a good way to shield kids from all the smut out there. People against it don't think you should have to get permission from the state to watch what you want to watch.
Louisiana is the first state to do it, but might not be the last . . .
U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced a similar bill last month called the "SCREEN Act" that would do the same thing nationwide. "SCREEN" stands for "Shielding Children's Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net".
Other bills in the past have been nixed by the Supreme Court though, for violating the First Amendment.
(Ars Technica / USA Today / Mashable)