Want to Watch Porn in Ohio? New Bill Would Require Viewers to Show ID

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Ohio have proposed a new bill that would require porn sites to verify the age of their users in the state in a bid to keep explicit online content out of the hands of minors. Senate Bill 212, as it’s known, mandates that would have would-be degenerates submit a photo of their state ID or provide their personal information to a third-party company before allowing them access to pornography. Companies that fail to comply could be slapped with stiff penalties. Asked by News 5 Cleveland if the new bill is “Orwellian,” Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R), a backer of the bill, replied, “It’s not very Orwellian—it’s protecting kids from things we know harm them, that’s called responsible citizenry.” In a statement to the outlet, Pornhub’s parent company said that it had complied with a similar law in Louisiana to devastating results. “Since then, our traffic in Louisiana dropped approximately 80 percent,” the spokesperson said, adding, “These people did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don’t ask users to verify age, that don’t follow the law, that don’t take user safety seriously, and that often don’t even moderate content.”