Tennessee: GOP Lawmaker Introduces Age-Verification Bill for Online Pornography Distributors

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – In an effort to protect children from exposure to pornography, a Republican lawmaker in Tennessee has introduced a bill that would require distributors of online pornography to keep minors off their websites by implementing strict age-verification measures, CBN News reports.

Titled “Protect Tennessee Minors Act,” the bill is sponsored by state Rep. Patsy Hazlewood (R), CBN reports. Hazlewood’s legislation would require online pornography distributors to match a user profile image to a verified government-issued I.D. Violations could result in distributors being charged with Class C felonies, up to 15 years in prison, and $10,000 fines.

“Exposing children to pornography is a form of child sexual abuse and exploitation that can severely damage a child’s intellectual development and emotional well-being,” Hazlewood, chair of the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee, said in a statement.

“It can lead to difficulty in forming and maintaining positive relationships. This legislation will apply the same safeguards and restrictions to the online world that we already have in place in the physical world. The standard should be the same.”

Commenting on the proposed legislation, Jacob Levy, a Tennessee-based tech industry executive, told CBN: “Pornography is a societal disaster. Modernizing existing laws to require age verification will protect children from it and help the internet stay digital, not degenerate.”

Utah and Virginia have already passed similar legislation to that proposed by Hazelwood, CBN notes.

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