In 2022, Louisiana passed a law requiring the use of age verification on websites that contain a “substantial portion” (33.33%) of adult content. Websites must utilize commercial age verification systems that check a user’s government identification or “public or private transactional data” to confirm that a user is at least 18 years old. Louisiana’s law has sparked a flurry of copycat legislation to be introduced in state houses around the country.

FSC opposes these laws. To learn why, read Ineffective, Unconstitutional, and Dangerous: The Problem with Age Verification Mandates

Recent Updates

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• Online Age Verification Is Not the Same as ‘Flashing Your ID at a Liquor Store’
  Woodhull Freedom Foundation (June 20, 2024)

• California Lawmakers Should Reject Mandatory Internet ID Checks
  Electronic Frontier Foundation (June 18, 2024)

• Age verification for pornography access? Our research shows it fails on many levels
  Zahra Stardust and Alan McKee (June 10, 2024)

• How to Address Children’s Online Safety in the United States
  Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (June 3, 2024)

• Fifth Circuit Defies Supreme Court to Uphold Texas Age Verification Law for Pornography
  American Enterprise Institute (May 10, 2024)

• Online Age Verification Laws Could Do More Harm Than Good
  Scientific American (April 16, 2024)

• Age Verification Laws Drag Us Back to the Dark Ages of the Internet
  404 Media (March 25, 2024)

• Ohioans will be hacked, swatted, if porn ID bill passes, adult industry veteran says
  Op-ed by Alexandra Snow (March 14, 2024)

• More than just a number: How determining user age impacts startups
  Engine (February 2024)

• The XXX Factor: Why internet freedom hinges on pornography
  European Policy Information Center (December 2023)

• The many ways that California’s online age-verification law is unconstitutional
  Op-ed by Adrian Moore and Eric Goldman (November 11, 2023)

• “Porn ID Law” challenges parental responsibility versus state control
  Op-ed by Bill Britt (November 10, 2023)

• Parents not politicians are ultimate guardians of kids online
  Op-ed by David Larson (October 27, 2023)

• The Moral Panic Over Internet Porn Can’t Overrule the First Amendment
  Op-ed by Ari Cohn (September 7, 2023)

• Age Verification For Porn Sites: Why It Won’t Work
  Forbes (August 31, 2023)

• Age-verification legislation doesn’t do what legislators say it will
  R Street Institute (August 7, 2023)

• The Porn Patriot: When Louisiana’s controversial Act 440 stopped her from watching porn with her husband, Elizabeth Henson decided to step up.
  Slate (June 25, 2023)

• Small Porn Producers Will Be Hurt Most by New Age Verification Laws
  Jessica Stoya (June 16, 2023)

• How to Protect Your Kids From Adult Content—Without Censorship
  Wired Magazine (Feb 18, 2023)