Lawmakers in the Alaska House have passed a bill that requires age verification to access pornography websites and bans social media accounts for children under 14.
The bill—HB 254, an Act Relating to Liability for Publishing or Distributing Pornography to Minors—passed on April 26 with strong bipartisan support by a vote of 33–6. Republican state Rep. Sarah Vance introduced the legislation to address the problem of how easily children can access pornography on the internet.
“This premature exposure not only accelerates the sexualization of young minds but also exacerbates issues such as school bullying and fosters unrealistic self-expectations, demanding immediate legislative action,” Ms. Vance said in a statement.
She said the bill recognizes the “profound connection between pornography and exploitation,” and acknowledges that many in the adult entertainment industry are “victims of coercion,” which blurs the line between being a consensual adult and a victim of exploitation.
If passed by the Alaska Senate and signed into law by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, the law would require minors aged 14 and 15 to obtain written consent from their parents before creating a social media account.
An Alaska Democrat, Rep. Andrew Gray, added the age requirement for minors opening social media accounts.
Eight Democrats, one independent, and four with no party affiliation joined 20 Republicans to pass the bill.
‘We Know It’s Harmful’
Mr. Gray told The Epoch Times that children under the age of 14 would not be allowed to have social media accounts, and those who are 14 and 15 years of age would have to obtain written permission from their parents.“It’s based on what happened in Florida in March,” he said.
The bill signed into law on March 23 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also prohibits minors under the age of 14 from holding a social media account and also requires minors aged 14 and 15 to obtain parental consent.
As explained by Mr. Gray, the underlying bill in Alaska required age verification to access pornographic websites.
“That is not a bill that’s going to work because it’s too easy to get around it,” he said, noting that someone just has to download a virtual private network (VPN), which allows people to appear as if they are in another state.
“We’ve seen this happen in Texas, Virginia, Utah, and in other states that have passed similar measures,” he explained. “We know that middle schoolers know how to download VPNs and use them. So, for me, it was about achieving the goal that the sponsor of the original bill wanted to achieve, which is she wanted to protect children from pornography.”
Mr. Gray said social media is a tremendous source of pornography.
“There are enormous amounts of pornographic material available, especially on Twitter, now known as X. So, I think adding this social media component does achieve the goal of the underlying bill,” he said.
“But more than that, we know that social media is harmful to our kid’s mental health. It’s designed to be addictive. It’s designed to keep kids on there longer than they want to be on there, and we have seen a decline in children’s mental health, which I believe could be attributed to the massive amounts of time they spend on screens and a lot of it is on social media.”
As the parent of a 10-year-old who loves his iPad, Mr. Gray believes the bill, if signed into law, will provide parents with an effective tool to protect their children online.
While some argue that anyone who can find their way around the pornography ban can also find their way around a social media ban, he said there is a difference when it’s against the law.
“The difference is that a parent can tell their child it’s illegal,” he said. “It provides parents with that tool. I have not had any negative feedback from parents of pre-teens about this bill.”
“I’m sure we'll get sued, too,” Mr. Gray said.
However, the threat of legal action does not dissuade him from his commitment to protect children.
‘They’re Being Desensitized’
Bonnie Gasper, the vice chair of the Child Protection League, insists there are no arguments that can justify exposing children to pornography.“It’s harmful for adults. So, why do we think it isn’t harmful to children, who are especially vulnerable,” she told The Epoch Times. “They are not cognitively or emotionally mature enough to process what they are seeing, much less to be able to identify if they are being groomed or exploited.”
She said pornography has been mainstreamed into a part of American culture. “It’s in the school curriculum. It’s in movies. The once benign family-oriented films produced by Disney have been replaced by movies promoting gay and transgender lifestyles.”
According to Ms. Gasper, “Kids are getting hammered from every avenue.”
“They’re being desensitized and groomed to think this is a normal, harmless pastime,” she said, noting how early exposure to pornography is causing tremendous mental problems.
Floyd Godfrey, a certified mental health coach and consultant, reported in March that “early exposure to pornography can alter the developing brain, creating neural pathways that predispose individuals to addiction.” It can also “distort a child’s understanding of sexuality, relationships, and consent, leading to unrealistic expectations and potentially harmful behaviors.”
“I’m glad Texas is doing something about this, and I really hope that more states will follow suit because there is growing recognition nationwide that this is a massive problem, and parents aren’t able to protect their kids from this,” Ms. Gasper said further. “As much as we try within the confines of our own homes, there’s no way to prevent kids from getting this stuff. School textbooks are obscene. We need to get these obscene textbooks out of schools as well. They’re being exposed to pornography in schools under the guise of education.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law requiring minors under the age of 16 to obtain parental consent to create a social media account. The legislation also requires the State Board of Education to develop safety measures for the internet and social media use for students in grades six through 12. The law also requires social media platforms to conduct reasonable efforts to verify the age of the applicants.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia opposed the legislation, saying the age-verification requirements leave Georgians vulnerable to “dangerous data privacy infringements.”
