OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law last week the state’s version of the age verification legislation being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.
As XBIZ reported, SB 1959 was introduced by Republican senator Jerry Alvord, with its House version sponsored by Republican Rep. Toni Hasenbeck.
Alvord praised similar measures in other states because they “have seen Pornhub exit completely” because these laws “make it difficult for them to do business.”
Alvord also admitted that porn is protected free speech, but then added that obscenity is not, without explaining how the state should differentiate between those categories for moderation purposes.
He also remarked that CSAM is not protected free speech, although CSAM is already criminalized, and his law only regulates the age for access to legal material.
Hasenbeck concurred with Alvord’s wishes for a Pornhub exit, adding, “I think this is going to put some impetus on those entities that are dealing in pornography to make some difficult choices.”
Also celebrating SB 1959 was Brett Farley of the influential Catholic Conference of Oklahoma.
Farley praised the new civil liability the law creates for companies, allowing parents to file lawsuits with allegations that their under-18 children accessed the site.
The Oklahoma version also includes the novelty that it makes adult sites responsible for actively denying access to internet and cell service subscribers who might request a block of its service.
“If they don’t and allow access, they could be held liable in court for damages and might also be subject to class-action litigation,” the Tulsa World newspaper reported.
“It creates pretty significant legal and financial liability for those companies,” Farley enthused to religious conservative outlet American Family News. “And ultimately they come to the conclusion that it’s just too much risk to continue operating in these states when there’s a possibility of significant punitive damages for them to just pull up their stakes and go home.”
While Alvord is a career politician and rancher and Hasenbeck is a grade-school teacher, lawmakers with more experience and knowledge of online issues vocally opposed the new law.
Oklahoma City Democrat Rep. Andy Fugate — an information technology professional — called SB 1959 “an unconstitutional restraint on adult behavior” and expressed doubts about the success of its purported aim of preventing minors from accessing adult content, Tulsa World reported.
Main Image: Republican Oklahoma senator Jerry Alvord and Republican Oklahoma Rep. Toni Hasenbeck.