Ohio bill would require age verification for porn websites

“This bill is simple. It’s making sure that these huge, international companies are being kept accountable. Adult content is adult content. If these companies want to continue hosting them, it’s their responsibilities to take care that minors don’t get to see it,” said Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, in a news conference Tuesday.

The bill gives three ways a website could verify age.

The simplest way to verify age would be by checking state issued IDs. But sites can also rely on “any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data” or an independent verification service that would compare a user’s personal information to one or several databases “regularly used by businesses and government agencies” for age verification purposes.

In Ohio, violation of the law would be considered an “unfair or deceptive act or practice.” Individuals responsible for such a violation would be guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree for a first offense and misdemeanor of a second degree for any offense thereafter.

DeMora was joined by Republican Lt. Gov Jon Husted and Sen. Stephanie Kunze, adding Ohio to a growing list of states where Democrats and Republicans are teaming up to tackle the issue.

“Kids are getting inundated with this stuff and they’re not developmentally prepared to handle it,” said Husted, who has recently ramped up his efforts to shelter kids from online content. “In the physical world, you can see it. Moms and dads have an easier view into what’s happening in their children’s lives, the public can see it; but in the digital world, nobody knows.”

In her remarks, Kunze illustrated how big the problem is. The senator referenced a survey of 13- to 17-year-olds that found that 73% admitted to watching porn; 54% had first encountered porn by age 13; 15% had first encountered porn by age 10; and 44% said they were exposed to porn on accident.

So far, eight states across the country have placed a stricter age-verification onus on porn platforms, most of which have survived judicial review, the lieutenant governor said.

“Typically, the companies that have to accommodate this have just stopped doing business in those states. We’ll be just fine with that if that happens here in Ohio,” Husted said.

The bill awaits referral to a Senate committee.