TOPEKA, Kan. — Republican state lawmakers succeeded Monday in advancing Kansas’ version of age verification laws sponsored nationwide by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns from House Democrats about the cost of setting up a new bureaucracy tasked with examining websites for pornographic content.
SB 394, carried by Republican Rep. Susan Humphries in the state House, now heads to the GOP-controlled Kansas House of Representatives for a full vote, expected in the coming days, Kansas’ Miami County Republic reported.
If passed, the bill would require age verification for use of websites that contain 25% or more of content deemed “harmful to minors” by the state.
Democrats warned that SB 394 would have a chilling effect on free speech in Kansas, and “could potentially prevent teenagers from accessing classic works of art, books, LGBTQ materials and other online content on websites, and these websites could potentially cost thousands of euros. legal costs,” the newspaper said.
Democratic lawmakers also expressed concern that the bill would cost the state about $210,000 in fiscal year 2025 and $220,000 or more in fiscal year 2026 to create new positions “to investigate websites,” the report said.
Humphries – whose pre-political background is in marketing workshops and Bible studies – has dismissed these concerns, instead rallying her fellow Republicans with inflammatory claims that pornography “normalizes violence and abuse against women and children.” , and debunked pseudoscientific statements about how porn can impact “brain development and functioning” and is “potentially biologically addictive.”
Democratic Rep. Rui Xu expressed concern and warned of “unintended consequences,” noting that the current crop of age verification bills includes definitions that are “much broader than we actually think” and could lead to censorship of countless works of art and literature.
The bill would give the attorney general, the Miami County Republic noted, the authority to investigate public reports of website non-compliance and seek civil penalties of $500 to $10,000 for each visit by minors.
“The parent or guardian of a minor who accessed age-restricted websites would be allowed to sue and seek damages of $50,000 or more,” the newspaper reported.
During the debate, Democrat John Carmichael stated, “We in America cherish our First Amendment rights. I’m sure we all know people who have given their lives in defense of that First Amendment. And the fact that some people consider certain material harmful to minors, while other people believe it is part of good education, should not mean that we remove material that some parents may not agree with from the Internet or from the school curriculum.”
Main image: Kansas Rep. Susan Humphries