Louisiana House committee advances bill to punish porn websites that don't verify user's age
A Louisiana legislative committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would let the state attorney general pursue civil penalties against companies that do not comply with a law that requires pornography websites to verify the age of its users.
The House Committee on Commerce voted 15-1 to advance House Bill 77, sponsored by Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie. Rep. Candance Newell, D-New Orleans, was the sole vote in opposition.
Schlegel, a sex addiction therapist, said she filed the bill to ensure enforcement of the existing law to better protect minors, who she views as susceptible to harm from pornography.
Newell said the bill’s language is overly broad and might give the attorney general room for personal interpretation.
“I just want to make sure that this can be used with any attorney general because, as we know, we’re getting a new one next year, and we want to make sure that you have the proper guidelines in place, so that what is deemed as inappropriate doesn’t change from administration to administration,” Newell said.
Schlegel pushed back on the idea that the language is overly broad, pointing to portions of her bill that incorporate the Miller Test, the primary tool used to gauge what is obscenity.
https://lailluminator.com/2023/04/12/louisiana-house-committee-advances-bill-to-punish-porn-websites-that-dont-verify-users-age/
