TOPEKA – Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has expressed serious reservations about the state’s version of the age verification bill sponsored across the country by religious conservative anti-porn activists, but ultimately decided not to veto it, leaving it could become law without its standard. signature.
Kelly’s declined to veto or fully support SB 394 on Friday after the bill passed 40-0 in the Senate and 92-31 in the House of Representatives.
“While it is a well-intentioned effort to protect children from content that the legislature deems ‘harmful to minors,’” Kelly said in a statement explaining her ambivalence, “this bill is vague in its application and may ultimately constitute an infringement on constitutional rights. is an issue that is being litigated in other jurisdictions over similar bills.”
“For that reason, I will allow this bill to become law without my signature,” she added.
SB 394 targets commercial entities that distribute 25% of their web pages or more material that the state deems “harmful to minors.” These sites must verify the age of Kansas users before granting access, using a database or some type of age verification technology that has yet to be specified by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, the Topeka Capital-Journal. reported.
“Failure to do so may result in lawsuits by the Attorney General, with civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation or lawsuits by a minor’s parent or legal guardian for statutory damages of not less than $50,000,” the Capital explains -Journal out. .
As XBIZ reported, SB 394 was carried to the state House by Republican Rep. Susan Humphries, who was also the bill’s lead spokesperson for the Kansas media.
During the House debate, Humphries – whose pre-political background is in marketing and Bible study workshops – dismissed the many concerns of Democratic lawmakers, instead rallying her fellow Republicans with inflammatory claims that pornography is “violence and normalizes abuse against women and children,” and debunked pseudoscientific statements about how porn can affect “brain development and functioning” and is “potentially biologically addictive.”
Among those expressing doubts about SB 394, Democratic Rep. Rui Xu for “unintended consequences,” noting that the current set of age verification laws contains definitions that are “much broader than we actually think” and could lead to censorship of countless works. of art and literature.
SB 394 takes effect July 1.