On Wednesday, the Alabama House Judiciary Committee considered legislation that would require any company that would distribute pornography over the internet to consumers in the state of Alabama to register with the state of Alabama, and that site must have some form of age verification to make sure children cannot access pornography.
House Bill 441 (HB441) is sponsored by State Representative Ben Robbins. HB441 is cosponsored by House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen and Rep. Jamie Kiel.
“This bill is trying to prevent children from having access to pornography,” Robbins said. “A company that wanted to distribute pornography would be required to register with the state of Alabama.”
Robbins said that this bill is necessary to protect children from the harmful effects of pornography,
“The more hyper-sexualized you are, the more violent you become to your partner of the opposite gender,” Robbins explained. “After the registration, a commercial entity is required to have an age verification process to verify that you are at least 18 years old. In some states, they use biometrics. That could be off a credit report.
Robbins offered a substitute to the version of the bill that he had originally introduced.
“The sub changes some of the language that Rep. (Matt) Simpson had about privacy rights,” Robbins said. “It also addresses the cause of action questions that Rep (David) Faulkner had.”
Robbins explained that the substitute makes it severable if one portion of the act is declared unconstitutional, then the rest of the act can remain in place.
Robbins added that the bill includes language so that “if they (the porn company) save any data from you, then you would have a cause of action.”
Rep. Ontario Tillman asked, “Is this patterned after a similar statute?”
Robbins said that initially, his bill was all original but has borrowed some language from bills in other places. “No state or country, as far as I know, have a registration component.”
The synopsis states, “This bill would provide legislative findings regarding the public health crisis caused by pornography. This bill would prohibit the distribution of material harmful to minors under 18 years of age. This bill would require distributors of material harmful to minors to take certain reasonable measures to ensure their published material is not distributed to minor children by use of age verification procedures. This bill would require distributors of material harmful to minors to pay a licensing fee to distribute pornography in this state and would provide for the distribution of the fee. This bill would also provide penalties for violations.”
A study by the Children’s Commissioner for England found that one out of ten children have watched pornography by the time they are nine years old. Four out of five (79%) surveyed have seen pornography involving violence by the age of 18. One in three young people have actively sought out depictions of sexual violence such as physical aggression, coercion, and degradation.
The report, by Dame Rachel de Souza, also points to the harmful effects of exposure to violent pornography. Nearly half of the 16- to 21-year-olds who took part in the survey assumed girls either “expect” or “enjoy” sex that involves physical aggression, such as airway restriction.
“Throughout my career as school leader, I have witnessed the harmful impact of pornography on young people. I will never forget the girl who told me about her first kiss with her boyfriend, aged 12, who strangled her. He had seen it in pornography and thought it normal,” she wrote in the foreword to her report.
On Tuesday, the Alabama House of Representatives passed legislation to further protect children from pornography by requiring that all new cell phones sold in the state have their installed porn filters turned on.
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