Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill Friday night that requires users to verify they are 18 years old through advanced verification methods to enter pornographic websites.
He said this is in an effort to protect children from being exposed to adult content. Under the bill SB 1515, adult websites must require users to provide government-issued IDs, biometric scans or submit to age verification software.
This new law is for websites where at least 33.3% of its content can be considered “material harmful to minors.”
Earlier this month, a similar law was put in place in Utah. In retaliation, PornHub blocked all users in the state from accessing their content. Virginia also was warned by the porn industry that it could lose access to adult sites if the bill was signed.
Critics of the bill say the legislation raises data privacy concerns while doing little to protect minors.
The law goes into effect on July 1.
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