Via The Dakota Scout https://www.thedakotascout.com/p/viewpoint-parents-want-action-not
While the general public has been rightfully focused on the seven ballot measures attempting to make drastic changes to our state, some legislators in Pierre have been playing political games. Although that might not surprise you, the topic should: Preventing children from accessing pornographic websites. During the 2024 session I (Rep. Soye) introduced a bill supporters called “Protecting our Kids from Porn” — House Bill 1257 — that would have required porn websites to conduct age verification to ensure that children weren’t viewing their material.
Seems like a no-brainer, right? Countless studies show the damage pornography does to young minds, affecting them physically, emotionally, and making them addicts for life. At the time, South Dakota would have become the ninth state to pass this law. Now 19 other states have passed this legislation. Shockingly, HB1257 was killed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 29, 2024.
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After extensive public outrage, a summer study on the topic was formed to justify those ‘no’ votes and provide political cover.
With Duhamel, who cast the deciding vote in December, now chairing the subcommittee on children’s access to the internet (a committee that has never held a single public meeting), disgraced senators have stumbled upon a bill to require parental consent for children under 16 to download apps on their phones. This bill would help keep children from being on social media like Instagram or Twitter without parental approval. We think it’s a good idea, but it has absolutely no protections to keep children from accessing porn. Kids can easily access adult content on a web browser as an alternative.
Again, it is not a substitute bill to protect our children from pornography. It is an entirely different issue. South Dakota would be the first state to pass a parental consent bill for social media apps, and it would certainly be challenged by industry groups unhappy with the new regulations, putting its immediate effectiveness and ultimate outcome in doubt.
Since last year, we strengthened the original Soye bill, which has been released as Draft 127 on the study committee’s website. This bill carries the same protections as the original bill to protect kids from porn but with enhanced criminal penalties for porn companies in violation of the law.
Weak Republicans claim we should not pass child porn protections because a similar bill that’s now law in Texas is being litigated in the Supreme Court. However, even while the case is in litigation, the Supreme Court denied a request to enjoin the law, meaning porn websites are currently required to perform age verification. In fact, this same law is currently working in 19 states. Our South Dakota law is closely modeled after the Texas law with a minor change of defining a “covered entity” as a website that is in the “regular course of business or trade” of making pornography available. Texas covers websites where a third of the content is pornography. This standard proved problematic in the lower court and regular course of business or trade is much more likely to withstand strict scrutiny.
Duhamel has repeatedly mischaracterized our attorney general’s position on the bill. But in reality, Attorney General Marty Jackley has helped to enhance the penalties in it, which now includes both civil and criminal penalties for porn sites in violation. His office also helped draft a Safe Haven provision requiring the state to give a website a warning before action is pursued. This makes a violating company guilty of deceptive trade practices and makes our bill even more likely to withstand a strict scrutiny standard. Jackley in August urged the study committee meeting to pass the age-verification bill now to protect our children.
VIEWPOINT: Age verification bill will not keep your kids safer, will risk privacy
Bethany Soye is a South Dakota State Representative and a wife and mother residing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Karen McNeal is a South Dakota Senate Candidate, running in District 32 in Rapid City, South Dakota.
