Senate Bill 1959, which requires age verification for online porn websites, was approved by the Oklahoma House this week and is now on its way to the desk of Gov. Kevin Stitt. He is expected to sign it.
Brett Farley, of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, tells AFN the “bottom line” behind the legislation is to give parents a legal tool to block content that is harmful to their children.
One important part of the legislation, Farley says, is that if online porn sites do not follow the new law, parents have the right to file a lawsuit.
The bill also gives the state attorney general the right to go after those companies.
In other states where similar bills have been passed, some porn companies are refusing to provide access to their content. That might happen in Oklahoma, too.
“It creates pretty significant legal and financial liability for those companies,” Farley advises. “And ultimately they come to the conclusion that it's just too much risk to continue operating in these states when there's a possibility of significant punitive damages for them to just pull up their stakes and go home.”
The bill was authored by state Sen. Jerry Alvord. It was introduced in the House by state Rep. Toni Hasenbeck.
