OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed into law Oklahoma’s version of the age verification legislation being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.
As XBIZ reported, SB 1959 was introduced by Republican Sen. Jerry Alvord, while the House version was sponsored by Republican Rep. Toni Hasenbeck.
Alvord praised similar measures in other states because they “have seen Pornhub exit completely” as the laws “make it difficult for them to do business.”
Hasenbeck concurred, adding, “I think this is going to put some impetus on those entities that are dealing in pornography to make some difficult choices.”
Brett Farley of the influential Catholic Conference of Oklahoma praised the new law’s creation of civil liability for companies, allowing parents to file lawsuits if they allege that their children under 18 accessed an adult site.
The Oklahoma law also includes a novel provision that requires adult sites to block access by any internet or cell service subscriber who requests such a block “so that a minor does not receive material harmful to minors via that subscription.”
Sites that fail to comply with this provision could be held liable for damages or be subject to class-action litigation, the Tulsa World newspaper reported.
“It creates pretty significant legal and financial liability for those companies,” Farley enthused to religious conservative outlet American Family News. “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.”
While Alvord is a career politician and rancher and Hasenbeck is a grade-school teacher, lawmakers with more experience and knowledge of online issues, however, vocally opposed the new law.
Democratic Rep. Andy Fugate, an information technology professional representing Oklahoma City, called SB 1959 “an unconstitutional restraint on adult behavior” and expressed doubts about the success of its purported aim of preventing minors from accessing adult content, Tulsa World reported.
Main Image: Republican Oklahoma senator Jerry Alvord and Republican Oklahoma Rep. Toni Hasenbeck.