With the intent of limiting minors’ access to websites that contain pornography, the Alaska House overwhelmingly passed a bill that requires all internet users to provide digitized copies of their government-issued ID, or other forms of data, which can be used by age-verification software providers.
House Bill 254 passed April 26 on a 33-6 vote, with supporters saying it would address the pressing public health crisis surrounding minors’ exposure to easily available explicit online content that not only damages young minds but can also be used by groomers to abuse unsuspecting youth.
The bill also prohibits social media sites from allowing Alaska minors (under age 14) to use their sites without first obtaining written consent from the minor’s confirmed parent.
Lawmakers who opposed the bill included Democrat Representatives Genevieve Mina, Donna Mears, Sara Hannan, Ashely Carrick and CJ McComick, along with GOP Rep. David Eastman.
Prior to the vote on the House floor, opponents of the bill said they supported the overarching desire to protect kids from pornography, but they raised serious questions about parts of the bill that require and empower companies to gather users’ personal data, which might be hacked or used for nefarious purposes.
Rep. Eastman (R-Wasilla), who annually proposes legislation aimed at limiting pornography, said his primary concern was that HB 254 requires age verification for any website, application or internet service that offers user-generated data or content. He said this would apply to Amazon, Netflix, music software and other products and services which allow users to create customized playlists, shopping lists and other data.
Comparing it to how China regulates the internet, he claimed the bill essentially means no one can use these sites without first offering up their privacy.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Bill sponsor Sarah Vance (R-Homer) defended her legislation, saying many other sites already require age verification before adults can purchase things such as wine or tobacco. She said adding pornography sites to the list was no different. She also reiterated that her bill does not allow websites to retain users’ data once they have verified their age.
Following passage of the bill, the House Majority issued a statement praising the legislation for acknowledging that pornography is often linked to child exploitation and sex trafficking.
“By restricting minors’ access to pornography, HB 254 serves as a critical deterrent to human trafficking, safeguarding the mental, emotional, and physical health of our youth,” the majority statement noted. “It underscores our collective responsibility to create a nurturing environment free from the corrosive influence of explicit material, allowing minors to grow into healthy, well-adjusted individuals.”
According to a legislative legal analysis, the bill exempts news and public interest sites, as well as internet service providers, search engines and cloud service providers.
The bill now heads to the Alaska Senate.
15 Comments
hmm, once again government thinks it’s a parent. Classic overreach. here’s the solution, outlaw porn. detrimental..to kids??.it’s detrimental to everyone!!. Just wonderful, I will be forced to provide id to my amazon or streaming accounts because these idiots can’t write common sense legislation. No, don’t tell me “but it’s for the kids” That’s no excuse for stupidity and this is what this is. I know, let’s implant a chip in our kids so they can be found when abducted, or how about every woman who travels to trafficking hot spots, We need to tell the government to stand down and parents to step up..
it is a shame that you have become, and remain, the mouthpiece of Eastman. You wont read the bills and won’t watch how it is made, or how the votes go. instead you just believe what he tells you. Joel you singlehandedly have turned what could be a good venue for conservative news into the same joke that eastman is in the legislature. he turns and twists good bills (admitedly with some crappy amendments) into vehicles to condemn legislators he does not like. Vance is my Rep and this is a good bill. it is telling the someone, such as eastman, who says he is pro-life and pro-child would vote against his. He is, in fact, in cahoots with the democrats. you should be ashamed.
the issue is more govt control over the public, not Eastman. Vances heart may be in the right place but her bill needs to be put in file 13.
I don’t get it. Where is the continued fight to keep smut books out of our school and public libraries? I can better control my kid’s access to porn on the internet then at the libraries…especially since we have these smut book-pushing librarians.
You either follow GOD or man….
Thats what I thought..Soon those who refused to stand will regret it deeply.
Keep your kids off the internet, If not, know what they’re doing while they’re on line and who their friends are. Our schools are just as bad teaching the kid to lie and go around their parent’s.
Like Johnny you want to be a little girl right.
Aside from the morality issues which drives this legislation, any new laws contrived by the “more government is better“ crowd will ALWAYS bury We the People in the quagmire of more nanny-state overreach. Liberty (no matter how distasteful to others) is easily relinquished but incredibly difficult to regain. But go ahead and turn your parenting responsibilities over to the state so you can “feel safe”. More government is better! Right?
Best guess is Rep. Vance meant well, but inadvertently overlooked the reason for the First Amendment.
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Otherwise, think of it, Alaska’s very own State Smut Commission, solemn apparatchiki pawing through Modigliani, Picasso, Rembrandt, Schiele, Courbet, Gauguin, Stormy Daniels, protecting our little darlings from the unseeable
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…while:
transvestite teachers remain free to grope and groom our little darlings,
transvestites remain free to use public facilities as venues of exhibitionism to groom children,
librarians remain free to provide all the pornography children can consume,
school officials remain free to invite kids, without parents’ knowledge, into the secret world of irreversible child mutilation.
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Wouldn’t be surprised to see a coalition of very strange bedfollows assembling against this idiocy.
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What legislation without some form of constitutionally outlawed punishment keeps children away from anything, including internet pornography?
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Parent says don’t do it, kids do it anyway and, God willing, survive the doing of it.
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Government-Parent says don’t do it, kids’ll stop right then and there, just like with drugs, tobacco, sex, and booze?
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Remember how well Prohibition worked? And that was the adults.
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Now it’s “digitized identification card, requiring (compliance) with a commercial age verification system” versus the modern internet speakeasy and the ultimate speakeasy, the dark web,
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… full of tips on VPN’s, AI, old-school hacking, i-p spoofing, photo shopping, data breaches, revenge porn, i-d fraud, i-d theft, blackmail, extortion, skimming, phishing, etc., etc.
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…most of which, including procuring fake “digitized identification cards”, the little darlings seem to know more about than any adult, or legislator.
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Blackmail? Imagine the chaos when someone figures out how to make a few bucks by suggesting that, for a fee, expertly personalized fake “digitized identification cards” associated with voluminous records of really nasty pornographic web site addresses don’t have to be made public.
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Can’t happen here of course, but what if it did?
Aside from the fact that in those states that have “age verification” laws they are easily thwarted through the use of a VPN (which, quite frankly, most children and teens probably understand better than their parents), this law tramples on the privacy rights of law-abiding adults and fails to address the underlying issue which is that there is LOTS of harmful content on the internet, sexual and otherwise. Raising your children in a fantasy land where these things don’t exist isn’t doing them any favors; part of being a parent today is teaching your children (in an age-appropriate way) how to safely use the internet – it’s no different than when my parents taught me not to accept candy from a stranger or get into a stranger’s car.
Solution: Children don’t need cell phones. Supervise your child’s use of technology of all kinds at all times. (ie. no bedroom/private use)
I disagree. Phones provide a lifeline.
If the government is allowed to monitor the kids’ access, next will be our access (not that it isn’t already) and then…..
Don’t open the door on the internet issue – the evil wants that door open and if Vance’s bill goes through, then the door will be opened. Not good.
Given AK’s small population, it will probably be easier for sites to just block traffic from Alaska rather than comply with this law.
During the hearing today 5/3 it was summarized that verification would be for websites under which a “substantial” portion is dedicated to pornography, so this would not impact Amazon shopping or require age verification for most websites. Interestingly, the senate working document has been stripped of the social media restrictions and parental control subsidy (Sections 2 & 3) returning it to the original intent, limiting minors’ access to pornography.