SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Alison Boden testified before the California Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, in opposition to the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.
As XBIZ reported, AB 3080 was introduced by Assemblymember Juan Alanis, a former police officer from Modesto, and would require all adult websites to take “reasonable steps” to ensure that only adults are viewing them.
Although Boden has been campaigning nationwide against these bills, the California measure is also of personal concern to her as a resident of District 12.
Boden stated that although she appreciated Assemblymember Alanis’ stated “commitment to protecting young people and willingness to engage in productive conversations about the bill,” at this time FSC “remains in opposition to this bill because — in addition to the very solid arguments that it will not survive judicial review — it’s completely impractical for Californians to verify their age multiple times on individual websites rather than doing it once on their device.”
Boden also noted that in the 16 months that the current slew of age verification bills have been in effect in other states, a lot has been learned about how they work in practice.
“One very important thing we’ve learned,” she told the committee, “is that the methods available to verify one’s age online are so cumbersome and invasive that consumers refuse to undergo the process. For example, verifying using government ID is so complicated that it took one reporter 52 steps to complete. Facial age estimation requires giving the entity conducting the verification access to your computer’s webcam or phone’s camera, which might be why fewer than 1% of users actually complete the process.”
Data shows that what users do instead, she added, is “hit the back button and find a site that doesn’t comply with the law. So while traffic to legitimate sites that implemented age verification has dropped substantially, we’ve looked at where it’s going instead. We need to protect children online, not send adults to dangerous websites with illegal content.”
The only solution to this issue that satisfies free speech rights and protects users, Boden concluded, is at the device level.
Noted independent producers like Jiz Lee, Dusty and FiveStar also attended the hearing to express opposition to the bill. Greg Gonzalez from national free speech organization FIRE also testified before the committee.
AB 3080 is backed by Exodus Cry, the California Catholic Conference, California Family Council, Concerned Women for America, Family Policy Alliance, the Pacific Justice Institute Center for Public Policy and other conservative groups, both religious and secular.
Activists from anti-porn ministry Exodus Cry, which originated in Missouri but has long been based in California, spoke in support of Alanis’ bill, as did Joseph Kohm — a conservative pro-censorship activist from the Family Policy Alliance — and Iain Corby, a British representative from the Age Verification Providers Association.
At the end of the meeting, the Judiciary Committee voted to move AB 3080 forward.