WEB EXTRA: Illinois lawmakers focus on internet pornography

Thanks for checking out this web extra.

We ran out of time to bring you all of our panel discussion on “4 the Record.”

This part of the conversation focuses on sexually explicit material on the internet.

Let’s talk pornography. It’s a first for us here on “4 the Record.”

There’s actually a serious proposal going through the Illinois Legislature. Senate Bill 25-90 would force pornography websites to verify the age of people who try to access their material before being exposed to it.

The goal is to prevent minors from getting to it.

A government-issued ID could be used for those verification purposes. Websites could be fined thousands of dollars a day for not implementing it. (We’re not going to name these websites to give them free publicity.)

There are laws like this already in Utah, Arkansas and Texas.

Host Jim Niedelman brings back former Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack and former Rock Island County Republican Party Chair Drue Mielke.

“I’m in favor of any bill that protects our children from age-inappropriate content. I support this measure but I don’t know how much it’s going to help,” Mielke said.

“The goals, I think, are the right goals,” Loebsack said. “We’ve got to protect the children. There is no question about that.”

To hear the rest of their discussion, click on the video.

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