A new age-verification regulation will take effect in Missouri on November 30 to require pornographic websites to block minors from accessing sexually explicit content. It is the first regulation change made by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway since taking office in September.
“My real fear is that children who have had it normalized to them then are the ones who are most susceptible to being groomed to be victims of child pornography and exploitation,” Hanaway told Missourinet.
Her office cites research saying the average age of first exposure to pornography ranges between 11 and 12 years old.
“It’s a big problem everywhere that kids are not prohibited from getting onto these porn sites,” said Hanaway. “It, you know, has a corrosive effect obviously on the culture and those kids in particular and it normalizes pornography to them.”
Hanaway’s regulation will apply to commercial websites and platforms where one-third or more of the content is pornographic or sexually explicit.
“When I was U.S. attorney, we prosecuted the second highest number of child pornography cases in the country, only after the district in Los Angeles. It remains a substantial problem here in Missouri,” said Hanaway.
Non-compliance will be considered an “unfair practice” under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, subjecting violators to civil penalties.
Hanaway said companies that profit from explicit material must prove their users are adults or they will be shut out of the state.
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