A promising new law to combat youth exposure to pornography has gone into effect in the state of Louisiana.
As of January 1, a new Louisiana law requires viewers of pornographic websites to use government-provided identification to prove that they are adults. According to the Washington Stand, “the law stipulates that sites with at least 33% or more of pornographic content must require users to verify their [ages] before being able to access the site.”
Anti-porn advocates applauded this change. Laila Mickelwait of the Justice Defense Fund contends that age verification requirements will cause online porn sites to lose 50% of their viewership. One pornographic website has already complied with the new law by installing age verification on its site. Dr. Eleanor Gaetan of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation commented, “‘Just as one must show an ID to enter an adult bookstore or theatre, one should have to demonstrate he or she is an adult to access online pornography.’” Dr. Gaetan added that “the negative effects of pornography on children are real and include low self-esteem, hyper-sexualization, and engaging in harmful behaviors. Other studies show that pornography exposure is a tool in grooming and those exposed are more vulnerable to assault and predatory acts.”
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms applauds the state of Louisiana for enacting this pro-child, pro-family measure. We call on the state of New York to follow suit.