SD House approves age verification bill; some Democrats raise censorship concerns

Some Democrats raised concerns over privacy, censorship and government overreach Tuesday as the South Dakota House of Representatives voted 61-5 to advance an age verification requirement for pornographic websites.
Critics of the bill, including Rep. Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, said they are concerned about children accessing pornographic material. But Healy worries the measure could create a “gold mine of personal data.”
“I think it sets a dangerous precedent of increased government control over the internet,” she said.
Age verification bill for adult websites passes committee of SD lawmakers
Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, said the bill’s definition of pornography, including a reference to content that’s harmful to children, could be interpreted more broadly than intended.
“We should be extremely wary of bills like this that place pressure on platforms to police their content out of fear for legal consequences,” Wittman said.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Bethany Soye, R-Sioux Falls, would require adult websites to verify users are at least 18 through measures such as uploading an image of an ID card. It would prohibit websites from retaining personal information post-verification. Noncompliance would result in escalating penalties for the sites, including misdemeanors for first offenses and felonies for repeated violations.
Soye said the bill is an important step in protecting minors from exposure to explicit online material.
“I think most people today, especially older people, don’t understand just how violent and misogynistic porn has become,” she said. “This isn’t your old girly magazine.”
The bill now moves to a Senate committee.
The Senate, meanwhile, has its own age-verification bill. It’s modeled after Texas legislation that’s under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate bill would only take effect if the Texas law is upheld.
The other difference is that the Senate bill would only require age verification for sites where at least one-third of the content is harmful to minors, to more clearly distinguish between pornographic sites and sites that merely contain some adult content.
