WASHINGTON – Influential think tank Heritage Foundation has released an op-ed endorsing Georgia’s version of age verification bills sponsored across the country by religious conservative anti-porn activists, celebrating its success in also preventing adults from accessing legal, First Amendment laws. protected pornographic content.
The article was written by Annie Chestnut Tutor, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center, and first published as an op-ed in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Chestnut Tutor’s article calls on Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, to sign HB 910 into law.
As XBIZ reported, HB 910 was introduced in February by veteran Republican Rep. Rick Jasperse and would require websites that publish what the law defines as “material harmful to minors” — including pornography — to verify the age of all users. HB 910 was passed by the Georgia legislature.
According to the Heritage Foundation analyst, requiring age verification on porn websites “will not stop social media users from seeing this content on social media platforms, but it will put up roadblocks for children who click on these links on social media and other websites .”
However, Chestnut Tutor celebrated another effect of these laws that has nothing to do with minors.
“For those of you like me who suffer from the harms of pornography for all ages,” she writes, “take a moment to consider the fact that traffic to Pornhub in Louisiana dropped by 80 percent after the law went into effect .”
Chestnut Tutor’s article is also inaccurate on the facts of the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision regarding Texas’ highly controversial age verification law, HB 1181.
In a mixed decision, a 5th Circuit panel in March overturned a lower court’s injunction against enforcement of the Texas law but struck down a provision that required adult websites to post a “health warning” that contained religious anti-porn propaganda myths perpetuated.
Ignoring the complexities of that decision, the Heritage Foundation analyst declared that the 5th Circuit “upheld Texas law requiring age verification on pornographic websites,” calling it “a victory for age verification advocates, concerned parents and, of course, children.” More importantly, it paves the way for other states, including Georgia, to enforce similar legislation.”
The Heritage Foundation leads “Project 2025,” a coalition of conservative organizations whose road map for the next Republican presidential administration includes a call to immediately ban all pornography and jail people who produce and distribute it.
The introduction of Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership blueprint document declares that pornography is “not entitled to First Amendment protection” and should be banned.
“The people who produce and distribute it should be jailed,” the document continues. “Educators and public librarians who distribute it should be classified as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology companies that facilitate its spread should be shut down.”