Louisiana Will Now Check Residents’ IDs Before They Can View Adult Content

New laws typically come into effect at the start of a new year, and as the clock hit midnight on January 1, 2023, residents in Louisiana found themselves needing to jump through an extra hoop to access content online. 

Starting this year, the state’s House Bill 142 will require all adult sites to confirm a visitor’s age, known as “reasonable age verification,” before allowing them to access content, or face the possibility of legal consequences. 

While most pages simply ask users to check an ‘18+’ box or to input their year of birth, the Bayou State has taken the measure a step further, asking residents to present a digitized identification card based on government ID, or show the government-issued card itself. 

A less straightforward third option does allow for sites to make use of “any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify the age of the person,” which could refer to credit card details, employment records, and more. 

Conveniently, Louisiana is one of the states within the country that has championed digital driver’s licenses in the form of the LA Wallet. Several popular adult sites appear to have preferred using this method to verify users’ ages.

The legislation was signed back in June last year, as lawmakers felt that the subject was “creating a public health crisis and having a corroding influence on minors.” However, as Gizmodo notes, it’s rather simple for the new measures to be bypassed, such as by using a VPN.

Furthermore, it’s likely it won’t just be teens trying to find a loophole, as giving up proof of your identity to access webpages may not sit well with everyone, despite the law’s guidelines stating that the companies “shall not retain any identifying information” shared. 

As per PC Mag, the United Kingdom had attempted to introduce a similar legislation years ago, but scrapped the idea due to privacy and data protection concerns, which are certain considerations on the mind of Louisiana residents facing this new law.

In recent months, we’ve seen entire password vaults stolen from password management systems, so who’s to say individuals who present their ID for verification to access adult content won’t have their details leaked and out in the open?

Going forward, many eyes will be on the SCREEN Act proposed by Utah Senator Mike Lee, who wants to expand the age verification program nationwide, alongside a wider plan that could try to take down adult content from the web altogether.

[via PC Mag and Gizmodo, cover image via Ver2exe | Dreamstime.com]