Virginia Governor Signs Bill Requiring Porn Sites To Verify User Age
Harold Hutchison on May 13, 2023
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia signed a bill requiring pornography sites to verify their users’ age Friday night, WTKR reported.
The bill, SB 1515, states that online providers who have a “substantial port” of sexual content on their sites are open to civil liability if they do not take steps to verify their users are above the age of 18. SB 1515, which passed the state senate by a 37-3 vote, and a 96-0 vote in the House of Delegates, defined “substantial portion” to be more than a third of the content on the site.
“Bill requiring porn sites to verify user age in Virginia signed into law” https://t.co/AvQZEUGyxj
— Brad Wilcox (@BradWilcoxIFS) May 13, 2023
Youngkin signed the bipartisan legislation into law, according to WTKR, after Utah passed similar legislation earlier this year. Louisiana also has a similar requirement, ArsTechnia.com reported.
Pornhub, one of the largest online porn sites, responded by blocking access to users from Utah. The porn industry threatened a similar blockade of access for Virginians should Youngkin sign the legislation, claiming that Virginia lacked a digital means to verify the age of users and that commercial verification sites would not work, Axios reported.
The Free Speech Coalition, an advocacy group for adult entertainment, filed suit to block Utah’s law May 3, according to a release.
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