by Logan Finney, Idaho Reports
The Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would add Idaho to the growing list of states that require adult websites to verify the age of their users in an effort to stop children from accessing online pornography.
The bill is sponsored by Republican Reps. Julianne Young of Blackfoot and Elaine Price of Coeur d’Alene.
“The online environment has made it very difficult for us to address this issue of minors and pornography,” Young said. “House Bill 498, however, offers an elegant and appropriate solution to this problem by making the individuals who provide the content, and make money off of it, responsible for ensuring that that content is provided only to those who are not minors.”
HB 498 directs adult websites to use “reasonable age verification methods” of a digitized identification card or other commercial age verification system to prevent minors from accessing harmful content.
“The material harmful to minors must be at least one third of the content on the site,” Price said. “They shall not retain the identifying information that they get. They need to dispose of the information after the age verification has been provided.”
Unlike a different bill that passed the Senate on Monday, this legislation would grant legal immunity to internet service providers, search engine providers, web browser providers, and device manufacturers “to the extent such provider is not responsible for the creation of the content” accessed by a minor.
“This legislation is placing the burden of responsibility for providing harmful materials to minors to the content provider, not the device manufacturing company,” Price said.
Some websites like Pornhub have completely blocked access in Montana, Utah and North Carolina rather than use an age verification system while they challenge those states’ laws in court. Other pornography websites are using third-party commercial age verification tools.
“The language in the bill and the legal language have been carefully drafted to address the issues other states have seen when they’ve passed these bills and they’ve been in court,” Price said. “We are trying to make sure that we are meeting the muster of the courts.”
The legislation would be enforced through a private cause of action for the parents or guardians of children exposed to harmful material on the internet, with a minimum $10,000 in statutory damages.
The bill passed the House unanimously with absent members Reps. Sue Chew, D-Boise, Chenele Dixon, R-Twin Falls, and Josh Tanner, R-Eagle. It must also pass the Senate to reach the governor’s desk.
Logan Finney | Associate Producer
Logan Finney is a North Idaho native with a passion for media production and boring government meetings. He grew up skiing, hunting and hiking in the mountains of Bonner County and has maintained a lifelong interest in the state’s geography, history and politics. Logan joined the Idaho Reports team in 2020 as a legislative session intern and stayed to cover the COVID-19 pandemic. He was hired as an associate producer in 2021 and they haven’t been able to get rid of him since.