Watching porn now requires age verification in La. because of new law
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The porn industry has been around for a while and in today’s digital age business is booming. When Laurie Schlegel isn’t seeing her patients who struggle with sex addiction, she’s at the Louisiana State Capitol.
The Republican state representative from Metairie passed HB 142 earlier this year requiring age verification for any website that contains 33.3% or more pornographic material.
“Pornography is destroying our children and they’re getting unlimited access to it on the internet and so if the pornography companies aren’t going to be responsible, I thought we need to go ahead and hold them accountable,” said Schlegel.
According to Schlegel, websites would verify someone’s age in collaboration with LA Wallet. So, if you plan on using these sites in the future, you may want to download the app.
“I would say so,” said Sara Kelley, project manager with Envoc. “I mean, I think it’s a must-have for anyone who has a Louisiana state ID or driver’s license.”
Kelley added there are other ways websites could ask you to verify your age if you cannot access LA Wallet. She added that although some personal information will be required, companies must not retain personal data after complete verification.
“It doesn’t identify your date of birth, it doesn’t identify who you are, where you live, what part of the state you’re in, or any information from your device or from your actual ID. It just returns that age to say that yes, this person is old enough to be allowed to go in,” explained Kelley.
It will be the website’s responsibility to ensure age verification is required when accessing their site in Louisiana. Schlegel said there will be consequences for those who fail to follow the law.
“Someone could sue on behalf of their child; they can sue if children are getting access to pornography. So, it would be up to the user to sue the company for not verifying age first,” continued Schlegel.
She said problems like depression, erectile dysfunction, lack of motivation, and fatigue can be directly linked to porn. She also said to prevent these issues from occurring at younger ages, this law is imperative.
“It’s tied to some of the biggest societal ills of human trafficking and sexual assault. And in my own practice, the youngest we’ve ever seen is an 8-year-old,” noted Schlegel.
There is legislation in Washington, D.C. that looks to implement something like this on a national level. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a bill similar to Schlegel’s.
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