INDIANAPOLIS — A bill that requires age verification to look at an adult website is heading back to the Senate after the House of Representatives added stiffer penalties.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill in January. The House overwhelmingly approved it Feb. 27 – with changes to the penalties.
Senate Bill 17 would require age verification, proving someone was at least 18 years old, before they could access an adult website. Essentially, people would need to enter their driver's license number, state identification card number or a credit or debit card number.
"We have children who have seen hardcore content before they have their first kiss," State Sen. Michael Bohacek, R-District 8, the author of Senate Bill 17, told lawmakers in the Senate.
So how would it work?
Under the bill, a third-party company would verify a person’s identity and age before that person could access an adult site. That third-party company would be required to erase someone’s personal information after the person’s age and ID were verified.
If not, the company would face penalties.
NOTE: The above video is from a previous report on Senate Bill 17 passing the Senate.
The House also added other penalties. A parent that finds a pornographic site did not get age verification to prevent their child from viewing could seek damages up to $5,000. The amendments also allow the attorney general to bring an action to obtain an injunction, a civil penalty of not more than $250,000, or reasonable costs to investigate a site violating the law.
The attorney general would also be allowed to investigate any person they have "reasonable cause" to believe has or is about to violate the law.
A child's information would be kept confidential "with certain exceptions."
The sites themselves are supposed to securely obtain the age verification and then properly delete it.
Supporters of the bill say it protects kids from accessing dangerous content.
"You can’t go into a MA-rated movie if you’re under a certain age. You can’t go into a porn store if you’re under a certain age. You can’t go buy a dirty magazine if you’re under a certain age, but we have a big loophole where kids can get on the internet, and they know how to do it very well," said State Senator Mike Young, R-District 35, who spoke in support of SB 17.
Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, D-District 33, called the bill a noble idea but said it needed guardrails.
Taylor pointed to legal challenges to a similar bill in another state, saying most of the third-party age verification companies are in other countries, and there’s nothing to prevent them from holding onto someone’s personal information or selling it.
"The bottom line is they still have our information under this age verification," Taylor said, before voting against SB 17, the only senator to do so.
SB 17 passed the Senate by a vote of 44-1.
It passed the House with amendments in a 91-1 vote.
It now heads back to the Senate for confirmation of the amendments.