(Radio Iowa) – Websites and smart phone apps where at least a third of the content is considered pornographic will soon be required to screen the age of Iowa users — and block access to anyone under the age of 18. Starting tomorrow (Wednesday) — July 1st — Iowa will become the 26th state to have this kind of an age verification law. During House debate this spring, Representative Skyler Wheeler of Hull indicated the world’s most visited porn website — Pornhub — no longer operates in nearly all of the states that have similar restrictions.
“Either they’re unable to verify the age of the users or they refuse to,” Wheeler said. In late April, Senator Kevin Alons, of Salix, indicated Iowa’s new restrictions are patterned after a Texas law that was upheld a year ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. “The highest court in the land confirmed what we already know: states have the constitutional authority and the moral duty to shield minors from material that is obscene to them,” Alons said.
Senator Sandy Salmon of Janesville told her colleagues she’s been working on this type of legislation since 2020. “A study of university students found that 93% of men had seen pornography during adolescence,” Salmon said, “…and it’s unacceptable.” Salmon says the age verification law sets up a speed bump that will shield kids from exposure to pornography.
