Our state legislators passed HB 8, effective Jan. 1, 2025, which in part, requires age verification for pornography sites. The bill allows the use of commercially available databases or other “reasonable” methods to verify age. In other words, this bill does not state how the age is to be verified, that it is only for pornography sites, does not include adult “hookup” sites, adult dating sites, and therefore puts adult materials on the internet in the hands of young people, including children, access to these sites. The general assembly has definitely failed in regard to this bill, and it is legislation with no enforcement. Therefore, the general assembly, in their infinite wisdom, should revisit this HB 8 and make modifications to keep anyone under the age of 18 years of age from being able to access adult sites on the internet and put some teeth in the bill as to how to enforce the age verification or rescind the bill. As written, it is impossible to enforce. That is it.

— David Rodgers
China Grove