DUBLIN – The Senate of the Republic of Ireland – known by its Gaelic name Seanad Éireann – has approved an age verification bill introduced by a senator who said he was inspired by US state laws promoted by religious conservative anti-porn crusaders.
As XBIZ reported, earlier this month Senator Rónán Mullen introduced his Child Protection (Online Age Verification) bill, which was supported by the Irish House of Lords after its second reading. The bill is now awaiting the committee stage.
The bill is co-sponsored by fellow independent senators Michael McDowell, Sharon Keogan and Gerard Craughwell, and three government senators: Fianna Fáil’s Erin McGreehan, Diarmuid Wilson and Aidan Davitt.
Mullen has argued that his bill, which adopts language from similar measures drafted by American and British anti-porn crusaders, is needed to address “widespread public concern about the spread of pornographic material freely available on the Internet, and about the damage this causes’. can do for children and their families.”
Mullen specifically cited US states’ age verification laws, praising the fact that their inaccurate language, which has already had a chilling effect on freedom of expression, has led adult companies like Pornhub to stop providing services in those states.
A British religious activist group celebrated the Senate’s approval of a bill that they say addresses “the dangers of online pornography.”
According to a report by the Christian Institute, Irish senators “provided broad support for preventing young people under the age of 18 from accessing pornography, as senators highlighted its association with violence against and degradation of women.”
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin raised issues with the proposals, but Mullen said the law was needed to “make our society safe for women to walk the streets and do their daily to live lives knowing that the men around them see them not as objects, but in a respectful, empathetic way as equal partners in humanity.”
Main image: Irish Senator Rónán Mullen