CONCORD, N.H.—A GOP lawmaker in New Hampshire has introduced a device-based pornography filtering measure to be considered before the state’s General Court. The New Hampshire General Court is the state’s bicameral legislature and will consider an approach to content filtering that companies like Aylo have supported.
The Boston Globe reports that state Rep. Margaret M. Drye is leading the effort, according to pre-filing data published by the state’s legislative branch.
Drye told the Globe, “It didn’t make sense to put forth anything that’s being adjudicated right now.” She was referring to the attempts by other state-level legislative bodies to put forth age verification laws that rely on government identification cards, consumer data, or age-estimation technology.
She additionally noted that these laws are still being challenged in ongoing litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court and in federal district courts across the country. Rep. Drye’s forthcoming bill takes the sentiment shared by platforms like Pornhub.com to prevent minors from accessing obscene material at the device level.
AVN previously reported that Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, and its ownership group, Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), support “device-based” age verification. Solomon Friedman, partner and vice president for compliance at ECP, voiced support for parental controls that filter out porn content being enabled by default at the point of sale.
Rep. Drye’s proposal would do this. She explained that her bill “is an easy step for device manufacturers … and I believe that it fits in with the statutes.” Like the traditional age verification laws, the adult entertainment industry has collectively opposed government measures for mandated age verification, including those for device-based verification.
