Wyoming Becomes 21st State to Require Age Verification for Porn
Legislation to protect families and traditional values continues to gain momentum across the nation, with Wyoming becoming the latest state to implement protective measures for children online.
Wyoming has become the 21st state to require pornography websites to verify users’ ages before granting access, joining Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Utah, Montana, Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, Idaho, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee. These laws restrict minors’ access to explicit content and strengthen parental oversight, as reported in Metro Voice News.
State Rep. Martha Lawley, who sponsored the Wyoming legislation, explained that the bill is based on a 2023 ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld Texas’s age verification law.
“I’ve long been concerned about the safety of children online (because of) the growth — explosion, really — of devices that connect to the internet and to a world unknown,” she said. “The pornography industry employs sophisticated tactics to target children, such as pop-up ads, misleading links and enticing visuals.” Studies have shown that early exposure to such content can have serious consequences, as Metro Voice News reports.
The movement is gaining traction, with more than a dozen additional states working to pass similar legislation by year’s end. Lawmakers from both parties have supported age verification requirements, viewing them as a tool to help parents shield children from inappropriate online material.
“This is a reason to celebrate,” said Craig DeRoche, president and CEO of Family Policy Alliance. “More children will be protected from harmful online content because Christians decided to get involved and live out their values.”
Bunni Pounds, founder and president of Christians Engaged, also celebrated the recent victories. “Our partners at Wyoming Family Alliance are blazing the trail for how Christians must mobilize for change at the state level,” she said.
In the area of girls’ sports, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” in February. It aims to ensure girls’ sports remain exclusively for girls by reestablishing Title IX protections and conditioning federal funding on compliance. Wyoming is one of more than 20 states that has passed a law at the state level protecting women’s sports.
More information is available at www.familypolicyallinace.com or www.christiansengaged.org.
–Dwight Widaman
