NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Bars and movie theaters check IDs at the door, but online anyone of any age can access just about anything they want.
A group of lawmakers are hoping to change that with two proposed bills.
The first would require age verification for someone to access pornography online.
The second would require age verification and parental approval for a minor to create a social media account.
"For most of my lifetime, a child could not buy a pornographic magazine in a store — they would check their ID, they would prohibit that child from being in certain stores like that — but since the internet has boomed over the several few decades, unfortunately, it exposes our children to adult concepts that they absolutely shouldn’t be exposed to," Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland and House Majority Leader, said.
For both measures, the bill language is relatively vague about how companies should confirm age verification. They leave it up to individual companies to decide how to verify someone's age — with the suggestion of scanning a state issued ID like a driver's license as one way to do it.
Republican leaders feel like restricting access to pornography online is a no brainer. They think both pornography and social media can open a child up to harmful, destructive concepts before they're equipped to use it.
This — they hope — would protect them.
"For adults, if that’s what you wish to look at, partake in, read about, whatever — you’re an adult you can do whatever you want to. But we want to protect our children from that type of pornography and from some of those type of negative aspects of the internet," Rep. Lamberth said.
On the social media bill, not only will parents have to grant their permission, there's also a clause that requires social media companies to grant access and monitoring for parents if their child ends up with an account.
Both bills are early in the committee process, and only time will tell if they receive support as they move along.
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-Lelan Statom
