U.S. Sen. Banks introduces federal ‘SAFE for Kids’ Act that would require porn sites to implement age verification measures

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WPTA) - U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced the ‘Safety and Age Filtering Enforcement (SAFE) for Kids’ Act in Congress on Wednesday.

The legislation would require commercial pornography websites to implement age verification measures to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit content online.

The bill comes after more than 25 states, including Indiana, have already enacted legislation requiring commercial pornography websites to implement age verification measures. The Supreme Court has also upheld these laws in Free Speech Coalition vs. Paxton.

“Kids should not be exposed to pornography with just a few clicks,” Banks said. “The SAFE for Kids Act helps parents protect their children and bring commonsense safeguards nationwide.”

In addition to requiring commercial pornography websites to implement age verification measures, the bill would:

• grant enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission through consumer protection law,
• authorize the Department of Justice to investigate platforms that knowingly violate the law, and
• create a private right of action allowing individuals, including parents and legal guardians, to bring civil actions against covered entities that knowingly violate the law.

To read the full bill, click here.

To be the first to get the latest breaking news alerts, download the 21Alive News App here.

You can also catch the latest news from 21Alive anytime on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. Just search “21Alive” in the app store and download the app to your device.