Senator Tries Bringing Anti-Porn Age Verification Law to New York

A New York state senator is trying to introduce the same age verification legislation that has resulted in massive porn sites—including Pornhub and its network of sister sites—going dark across much of the U.S. south and midwest. 

The bill, introduced by Republicans Jake Ashby and Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, is almost identical to every other law that has passed across the country in the last two years related to age verification: it would require porn sites to verify that visitors are at least 18 years old through “digital identification,” credit card transaction, government ID, or password-protected login.  

Like other laws in Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, Montana, and more than a dozen more states, it defines “material harmful to minors” as a laundry list of sex acts and body parts, including “actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction of: (A) a person’s pubic hair, anus, or genitals or the nipple of the female breast; (B) touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or (C) sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act” that “lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.” 

The authors write in their justification for the bill: “The internet is a dangerous place for children, rife with sexual material that is harmful to minors. The ease of access to this material is downright scary. This legislation seeks to prioritize the protection of children by requiring pornography websites to verify the age of its users. Upon verification that a user is 18 years of age or older, access to the site would be given.” 

Sites that operate in the state and don’t have age verification set up would face a $50,000 penalty per day.

“In 19 states, Republican and Democratic governors have signed these age verification bills into law. New York should be next,” Ashby wrote in a Facebook post. “In recent years, New York has made positive, bipartisan strides to protect our kids online. We believe this is another important step. Consuming this kind of content is wrong for our kids’ mental health and their emotional development. It can be toxic for their future relationships,” Ashby said in a press release, the New York news outlet Troy Record reported.

When age verification laws are enacted in states, searches for VPNs spike, people go to less-moderated non-compliant websites, and adults’ rights to privacy and speech are infringed upon. Adult industry and first amendment advocates have lobbied for device-based controls for children, instead. 

The bill was referred to the committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection on January 30.