OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill in the House that would require Oklahomans to submit their government-issued identification prior to accessing any content on a site considered “harmful to minors.”
Rep. Randy Randleman, R-Eufala, who is also a child psychologist, has filed House Bill 3008.
The bill states if there is more than 33.3% of the total material on a website that is considered “harmful to minors,” the site will have to install a “reasonable age verification method.”
News 4 asked Rep. Randleman how he plans to measure the content on a website and he said he didn’t have an answer as of the interview.
“We run into so many situations where kids are sexually abused, you know, whether you have intercourse or whether you have just fondling or whatever. If you’re exposed, then that creates another situation. I think with my background, working with multiple families and seeing how much of this abuse is going on, this is the beginning of trafficking,” stated Rep. Randleman.
Rep. Randleman explained having an age verification process on pornographic sites isn’t any different than verifying someone’s age when purchasing alcohol.
HB3008 details anyone who wants to access a pornographic site deemed as harmful to minors will have to submit a digitized identification card, a government issued identification card, or “any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify whether the person attempting to access the information is 18 years of age or older.”
“Transactional data” refers to a third party vendor that verifies a user’s age via their mortgage, educational, employment, or other records.
“Around here we can pick [up a cell phone] and we get everything. We just knew that, that needed to be stopped. So that was my goal to get this done,” explained Rep. Randleman.
The bill also explains any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes harmful material to minors on the Internet will be held liable if the entity fails to perform a reasonable age verification method.
“I don’t think there’s an issue of partnering up [with pornographic websites] at all. I think it’s a responsibility of the government and our people protecting our children,” said Rep. Randleman.
He said the consequences for those entities in violation are undecided as of now.
Rep. Randleman isn’t the first lawmaker to present this bill. Eight other states have recently passed an identical law, including Texas, Utah, Louisiana, and Virginia.
In Virginia, Pornhub has disabled its site to residents because of an identical law.
“While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk,” a prompt on the Pornhub website states as a Virginia resident attempts to view content.
Texas, Louisiana, and Utah are currently facing legal ramifications from the Free Speech Coalition, which is an adult entertainment group.
“We support efforts to keep minors off adult sites, but this law creates massive privacy risks for legal adults who want to access adult content. And most consumers know it. Members of our industry attempted to comply in Louisiana, only to see the vast majority of consumers — more than 80% — refuse to submit ID or undergo face scan,” said Free Speech Coalition Director of Public Affairs, Mike Stabile. “The Supreme Court has been clear that where parental filters exist, the government cannot censor the internet for legal adults. A similar law was enjoined by a district court judge in Texas, and laws like it will be ruled similarly unconstitutional.”
In ACLU vs. Reno from 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled “indecent speech” was protected under the First Amendment.
The court ruled the Communications Decency Act is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech as well.
“If legislators want to work with us to draft effective legislation that doesn’t violate adults’ first amendment rights, we’ll happily work with them. But we’ll continue to challenge bad laws that are ineffective and unconstitutional — because no matter how you feel about adult content or no matter where you are politically, you should be concerned about the government controlling what legal content you can access anonymously on the internet,” stated Stabile.
Rep. Randleman told News 4 while the goal of this bill is to not drive pornographic websites from Oklahoma, he’s not against it.
He did reiterate this bill is not intended to attack adults.
Rep. Randleman believes this bill will receive bipartisan support and become law during the upcoming regular legislative session.
News 4 reached out to Pornhub for comment, but didn’t hear back.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24371480/236494_Mac_mini__2023__AKrales_0042.jpg)
