Georgia Republicans Introduce Age Verification Legislation

ATLANTA—A Republican lawmaker in Georgia has introduced age verification legislation targeting adult entertainment content. This is a copycat proposal to dozens of other age verification proposals across predominately Republican-controlled state legislatures. Civil remedies are on the docket for this bill, House Bill (HB) 910, proposed by state Rep. Rick Jaspere of Jasper and other bill co-sponsors. HB 910, if it were to become law, would require adult entertainment companies to verify the age of users to view porn. The legislation is virtually identical to that in other states. HB 910 allows the use of "reasonable" age verification or a "commercially available database that is regularly used by businesses or governmental entities for the purpose of age and identity verification," reports the Georgia Recorder. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican, announced his support for age verification targeting social media platforms. Aylo, the parent company of the popular tube site Pornhub, has geo-blocked millions of Americans who live in jurisdictions where age verification laws are in place. This includes Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, Montana and Arkansas. Texas is currently in litigation.