Kansas Wants to Say Bye-Bye to Porn, Along with Other States

April 2, 2024
ALEXANDER

Kansas Joins Other States in Wanting to Limit Adult Content

Enjoy watching adult content from home? Well, that could all be a thing of the past. Kansas is the latest state to jump on the bandwagon requiring age verification systems for any websites with adult content. The restrictions in place make it undesirable for anyone to want to log on considering the steps you have to go to and the ID you have to submit, and it puts the burden on the sites, often making it a financial impossibility.

The Kansas Senate passed the legislation unanimously, and it passed the House last week 92 - 31. The bill now heads to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly who supports bipartisan legislation. If the bill passes, Kansas joins Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Utah, and Virginia in adult verification requirements, with 20 other states in the process of following suit. We previously reported on Pornhub leaving the state of Texas in light of adult restrictions, and the company and Texas are embroiled in a lawsuit.

The motive behind such legislation is to protect minors from accessing adult content from home, at an early age. We know that there's free porn all over the place, and yes, youth may have access if parents can't bother to monitor or place web surfing restrictions themselves. Opponents of these bills say these measures violate free speech and press rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. In cases where it has gone to a Court of Appeals, judges have found that it does not violate free speech rights. Violators of the Kansas bill can pay up to $10,000 in fines, and parents can sue for damages up to $50,000. Pornhub is being sued by Texas for over $1.2 million in fines. Other opponents of the bill say that the information required to access adult content, i.e. uploading your ID, can be captured and used for fraudulent purposes.

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How does this affect the LGBTQ community? Well, yes, we love our gay porn, but that's not the point. Kansas City-area Democrat Rep. Brandon Woodard believes the verbiage in the bills can be interpreted to restrict access to information about sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill refers to acts of homosexuality, meaning leading a homosexual life is harmful. Also, if you have to upload your ID to access gay information, that would automatically out you.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Google analytics has reported that searches for virtual private networking (VPN) have spiked in states that have implemented age verification systems. People are finding a way around the system. Dark web anyone?

What do you think about these bills? Is Kansas right?