With Pornhub blocked in Texas, Kansas lawmakers want an age verification law for porn

Kansas lawmakers want to block children from accessing pornography online by passing a bill that never mentions pornography.

If Senate Bill 394 becomes law, it could also lead to adults also losing access to online porn, as has happened under a similar law in Texas.

"It is a bill about protecting children, specifically online protection, and particularly children accessing pornography online," said Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita.

The bill never mentions any variation of the word "porn." Instead, it uses the term "harmful to minors."

"Harmful to minors" has a broad definition in state law that some legislators suggested could extend beyond pornography.

After giving the bill initial approval on Monday, the House was expected to take a final vote on Tuesday to send the bill to Gov. Laura Kelly's desk.

Under the bill, a commercial entity that distributes such material on at least 25% of its webpages must verify the age of any person in Kansas before they can access their website. They must use either a database or age-verification technology specified by the Kansas Attorney General's Office.

Failure to do so can result in lawsuits by the attorney general, with civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation or lawsuits by the parent or legal guardian of a minor for statutory damages of no less than $50,000.

"The harms that pornography cause to our Kansas kids compel us to create barriers for their access," Humphries said.

"This bill is a powerful tool for us," she added. "It is putting porn websites on notice that they cannot continue to offer websites to children without any sort of accountability. It is our responsibility to protect the children of Kansas."

Rep. Dan Osman, D-Overland Park, raised concerns about cybersecurity and identity theft. He said the bill could require consumers to give their drivers license or passport to a third party verification system located in another country that could ignore the bill's provision prohibiting the retention of identifying information, such as Social Security numbers.

"All of us in this room can agree porn is bad for kids," Osman said. "All of us in this room can agree minors should not have access to porn, and that it is harmful to them."

"You don't make policy based on that," he continued. "You don't stop your analysis at that point and say, 'Well, if it's bad, we need to do something about it' and then not give consideration as to what it is that you're actually planning to do about it. This bill is rife with security risks. It's rife with big government coming down and telling you what to do. It is rife with First Amendment issues."

Pornhub blocked access in Texas due to similar law

"This bill is narrowly tailored so it does not run afoul of First Amendment rights," Humphries said. "In fact, other states have passed this. In Texas, the Fifth Circuit has found that this does not run afoul of First Amendment rights. Of course, children have no constitutional right to access pornography."

Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wichita, said he introduced similar legislation because he wants to protect children, including his own.

"Nothing in this bill would preclude any adult from looking at all the nasty material that their heart desires," he said.

But opponents of the legislation said the bill could result in adults losing access, as has happened in Texas.

While a federal judge previously ruled in favor of Pornhub, which alleged that Texas' law violated free speech rights, a federal appeals court upheld the law.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Pornhub's parent company and other porn websites, reported the Austin American-Statesman, of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

Pornhub then blocked access to all users in Texas, and Google search trends for "Texas VPN" surged, reported the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, also of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

Osman joked that the bill is sponsored by a VPN company. Virtual private networks encrypt the user's internet connection through a remote server, which can mask the user's location and allow them to circumvent the geographical restriction on accessing porn.

"Passing this law will not stop children from accessing pornography on the internet," said Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita. "It will only encourage them to buy a VPN, or even worse, go looking for things on the dark web. That's not a good idea."

He suggested better solutions would be for parents to use parental controls, monitor or restrict internet access, not give their children smartphones or not allow desktops to be used behind closed doors.

Is 'harmful to minors' open to interpretation?

Rep. Rui Xu, D-Westwood, said he wasn't sure if it was an intended or unintended consequence, but "the definitions are much broader than we actually think."

He noted that the "harmful to minors" definition includes "sexual conduct," which has a definition that includes "homosexuality."

Rep. Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, who is gay, said, "It is fun learning … that we are defined as harmful to minors or sexual conduct just for being who we are."

"Under my reading of this bill," Xu said, "… if a self-hosted blog is about the top 10 most gay-friendly cities or top 10 gay-friendly colleges, that would be in violation of this bill."

Humphries was skeptical that a list of cities would meet the "harmful to minors" definition.

Carmichael suggested the bill could apply to websites that have books that Moms for Liberty wants to remove from libraries. The conservative organization has has campaigned against books that touch on gender and sexuality topics.

"One parent out of 100 may decide that those books are harmful to their child, and that one parent brings a civil lawsuit," he said.

Likewise, Michelangelo's nude sculpture of David, "Some people think that is harmful to minors," he said.

Saying he wasn't using it as a prop, which would violate a new rule imposed by Republicans earlier this session, Carmichael motioned toward a painting on the ceiling of the House chamber of a fully exposed female breast and nipple.

"I'm not using it as a prop, it's in the chamber itself, you can see a lot more of a female breast than many of us think is appropriate," he said.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: With Pornhub blocked in Texas, Kansas pursues an age verification law