Bill passed by Indiana Senate would require age verification for adult websites
INDIANAPOLIS (CBS) -- Indiana residents may soon have to verify their ages before going on adult websites.
A bill aimed at keeping children off pornographic websites passed overwhelmingly in the Indiana State Senate, and will soon be headed to the state House of Representatives. But the measure is not without its critics.
Some of those critics argue the bill violates the U.S. Constitution, and worry what will happen to the data these websites would be collecting. But the bill's author said those concerns do not outweigh the benefit to Indiana's kids.
"We have kids that are seeing really graphic scenes before they even have their first kiss, or hold their first hand, or go to their first eighth-grade dance," said Indiana state Sen. Mike Bohacek (R-Michiana Shores).
Bohacek authored Indiana Senate Bill 17, which would require any adult-oriented website operator to verify the ages of the people who visit it. This would most likely be in the form of scanning driver's licenses or other official IDs.
"That ID will be deleted once you're verified - so each time you log, on you're going to have to re-verify," he said.
Senate Bill 17 slid through the Senate by a vote of 44-1 with very little pushback. But one lawmaker argued that the most of the "third-party age verification companies" required to process these IDs for porn websites are based outside of the U.S., making it difficult to police.
"There are also some significant concerns for privacy with respect to accessing these websites if age verification requirements are put into place," said Kate Ruane director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Ruane also argues the requirements could violate the access rights of some adults.
Some examples of such adults, she said, are "people without a without a government-issued ID, people with certain disabilities, people whose faces are not properly assessed by the facial recognition technology that might be that might be used by some of these services."
If the bill becomes law, Indiana will join Louisiana, Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas in having such a requirement on the books.
But there have been several legal challenges - including in Texas, where a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional.
Bohacek says he expects lawsuits, but argues that the measure will be worth it.
"I feel very confident that it'll survive whatever challenge it needs," he said.
The bill should make it to the Indiana House in February. Bohacek said barring any unforeseen circumstances, he expects that it will pass before the end of that month.
Meanwhile, the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology issued this guide last fall listing guidelines to help young people handle unwanted messages online. The project is proposing such steps as an alternative to requiring age verification for adult websites.