Democratic Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas posted a seemingly tongue-in-cheek remark Friday on Twitter, wondering if “anyone else’s Pornhub” was working.
“I told you all I am not your typical grandma!” Lucas tweeted, adding, “Is anyone else’s Pornhub not working?”
Lucas posted a Twitter thread referencing a verification system under the state of Virginia’s new law to protect minors from pornography. Senate Bill (S.B.) 1515 forces pornographic websites to verify, with identification, that users on the site are 18 years or older.
Is anyone else’s Pornhub not working?
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) June 30, 2023
Republican state Gov. Glenn Youngkin “had an obligation to create a system for age verification” when the bill passed, according to Lucas, but he “sat on his ass and relied on these websites with porn to do the verification process,” allegedly creating a major privacy risk for many Virginians.
“The governor remains committed to protecting Virginia’s children from dangerous material on the internet,” a spokesperson for Youngkin told local outlet WRIC in a statement.
Other states have passed similar laws meant to prevent minors from accessing pornography, namely Utah and Louisiana, among others that have moved towards such legislation. Virginia, similar to Louisiana, defines the threshold for application as “substantial portion,” which “means more than 33 and one-third percent of total material on a website that meets the definition of material harmful to minors.” (RELATED: Majority Of Kids Are Exposed To Online Porn By Age 13, Study Finds)
The laws are expected to face several legal challenges on grounds of free speech, according to WRIC. But as long as the Virginia law stands, companies who fail to follow the regulations “shall be subject to civil liability for damages resulting from a minor’s access to such material harmful to a minor.”