TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee last week voted unanimously to endorse the state’s copycat version of the age verification legislation being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite Democratic Senators expressing concerns about implications for free speech.
SB 394 was introduced by the Republican chair of the committee, Sen. Kellie Warren, who eventually convinced her colleagues to send the measure to a full Senate vote.
Adult websites “would be subject to the age-confirmation requirement if more than one-fourth of content viewed in any calendar month could be interpreted as harmful to minors,” the Kansas Reflector reported.
Since the bill allowed for state action, Democratic senators expressed concern that Kansas’ extreme-right Attorney General Kris Kobach could “attack websites dedicated to literature or fine art,” the Reflector reported.
Democratic Sen. Tom Holland specifically mention whether the bill would cover the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, which has been called in the past “hardcore pornography” by national anti-porn lobby NCOSE (formerly Morality in Media).
“Would that qualify as basically being harmful to minors? Could you not make the argument that that is sexually titillating?” Holland said, before voting in favor of the bill anyhow.
Before aligning behind Warren, some senators also expressed reservations about privacy and date security issues concerning the bill’s still-undetermined mandatory age verification system.
Warren insisted that Kansas already defined content “containing any description, exhibition, presentation or representation of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse” as “harmful to minors.”
Warren confirmed that one of the intentions of her bill would be for the Attorney General to “be responsible for investigating public reports of noncompliance with the law and the courts would make determinations based on that evidence,” the Reflector reported, adding that Kobach “would be allowed to seek civil penalties against websites ranging from $500 to $10,000 for each underage visit to the offending website.”
Warren’s bill also allowed for civil actions by any Kansas parent or guardian of a minor “who gained access to pornography on certain websites.”
“This bill is narrowly tailored so it doesn’t run afoul of First Amendment concerns,” she insisted.
As XBIZ reported, last week, during a similar committee hearing in the South Dakota House, Republican Rep. Scott Odenbach openly acknowledged that that state’s copycat bill is “part of a national movement pushing back on what he described as ‘this kind of filth,’” local station KELO reported.
His fellow Republican Rep. Rebecca Reimer expressed satisfaction that a similar measure in North Carolina had resulted in Pornhub blocking access to the site for all users regardless of age.
“It seems to be working,” Reimer stated.
Main Image Insert : Kansas Sen. Kellie Warren (R)