KS and MO will enforce age checks on porn sites
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The Supreme Court ruled in June that states can require porn sites to verify users' ages, clearing the way for Kansas' and Missouri's different laws to stand.
Why it matters: The 6-3 ruling has implications on online free speech that reach far beyond sexually explicit websites.
State of play: Kansas and Missouri are taking different paths, but both are working to make age checks a standard part of accessing adult content online.
- Kansas enacted a law in 2024 requiring adult sites where at least 25% of content is "harmful to minors" to verify users are 18 or older using a government-issued ID. Pornhub and other platforms responded by blocking access in the state, citing privacy concerns and legal risk.
- Missouri didn't pass a law, but Attorney General Andrew Bailey rolled out a new rule in April that requires adult sites to verify a user's age twice — once on the site, and again on the device. Any personal data used for that check has to be deleted immediately. Sites that don't comply can be fined up to $10,000 a day.
Zoom out: The Supreme Court had repeatedly struck down federal laws that would compel websites to verify the age of their users in order to protect children.
- Louisiana adopted the nation's first age verification law in 2022. Since then, more than 20 states have passed similar legislation, according to the Free Speech Coalition.
The other side: Free speech advocates argued the law not only violates adults' privacy but also fails to protect children from accessing porn.
- The broad definition of sexually explicit materials could affect streaming services, online bookstores and other mainstream websites, according to opponents.
- The law does not apply to search engines or social media platforms where children are most likely to be exposed to sexually explicit material, they said.
- Some adult sites have gone dark in states with age verification laws rather than complying with the requirements, pushing users to use virtual private networks to circumvent the age verification.