North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a bill on Monday that requires age verification on pornographic websites.
The new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, requires the websites to verify users in North Carolina are over the age of 18 through a commercially available database or “another commercially reasonable method for age and identity verification,” according to the bill. However, websites are not allowed to keep any of the identifying information used to gain access to the sites.
The measure also allows parents to sue the owners of those websites for allowing their children to view the material.
Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi and Montana have passed similar laws, according to the N.C. Family Policy Council. But in August, a federal judge ruled that Texas’ law violates free speech restrictions that are banned by the First Amendment, Variety reported. The ruling was appealed by the Texas Attorney General.
When the laws went into effect, Pornhub, a website that’s one of the most-visited websites in the world, saw its traffic drop by more than 80% in Louisiana. Users in Utah, Mississippi and Virginia were blocked from accessing the site, Politico reported.
Age verification in North Carolina hasn’t been set up yet, but those who visit porn websites in states with similar laws are directed to a third-party site where they provide their government IDs, Wired reported.
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