Alaska Lawmakers Push AV Legislation Targeting Porn Sites

JUNEAU, Alaska—The Alaska House of Representatives is expected to advance House Bill (HB) 254 on the third reading to the Senate for initial consideration. HB 254 would require "reasonable" age verification for all adult entertainment sites with users linked to Alaska IP addresses and restrict social media apps to people 14 years of age and up. Introduced by Rep. Sarah Vance, a Republican of the small city of Homer, HB 254 would require all Alaskans aged 18 years old or higher to be subject to "commercially reasonable age verification method[s]" before they log on to porn websites. Vance says, "The entire point of this bill is to prevent the access of minors" to porn. According to the bill's text, HB 254 would establish a new civil action and would empower the office of Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, a Republican, to enforce the law. By comparison, the age verification proposal in Alaska is one of the least invasive proposed throughout the United States. For example, the proposal that is poised to become law in Tennessee features a felony charge for any violation of its age-gating requirements. However, the rise in regulatory risk could drive platforms from Alaska, including Pornhub.  Before the bill advanced through the House, organizations like the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation voiced their opposition to the bill. According to documents submitted by these groups to the state legislature, there are several civil liberties concerns at play, including concerns that age verification limits freedom of speech. "The adult industry wholeheartedly supports efforts to keep minors from material that is age-inappropriate or harmful," Alison Borden, executive director of FSC, wrote. "Unfortunately, HB 254 has significant practical, technical, and legal problems that render its ability to protect children limited while creating dangerous privacy risks for adults and violating the First Amendment rights of both consumers and producers." Letters of support for the bill have included one signed by representatives for far-right groups like the National Decency Coalition and Culture Reframed. According to the Alaska Beacon, some lawmakers who oppose the measure take issue with the social media age requirements. Democratic state Rep. C.J. McCormick of Bethel, the youngest lawmaker in the state legislature, opposed the bill, using his experience of isolation brought on by living in rural Alaska as his guide. He said that a social media network like Facebook is crucial for communicating in rural communities. "I think there’s a lot of power in social media, especially for rural kids ... I think we need to combat the evils of social media, but removing it for all young people is not the way to go,” the lawmaker said via the Alaska Beacon.