New Yorkers of a certain age will never forget the seedy past of Times Square. If I were to sum it up in one word, “depraved” would definitely come to mind. Strip clubs, peep shows, and live sex shows were spread across block after block. But New York wasn’t the only city with a red-light district, major cities across the country had their own versions. When I started college in Nashville, the city’s Lower Broadway resembled a smaller, more compact version of Times Square. To get to the more tourist-friendly areas of downtown, you had to drive through Lower Broadway, passing peep shows, strip clubs, and open prostitution.
But things have changed. Times Square, although not entirely family-friendly, is a far cry from the 1970s version depicted in HBO’s “The Deuce.” The same applies to downtown Nashville, now known as the bachelorette capital of America. Lower Broadway is teeming with tourists, causing locals to steer clear not because it’s debauched, but because it’s overly crowded. Cities like New York and Nashville have successfully revitalized themselves by implementing rezoning, economic development, and law enforcement crackdowns on illegal activities related to the sex trade.
Now, it’s time to shift our focus towards another issue – the state of our online spaces. We need to tackle the problems that exist in the virtual world just as we did in Times Square and Lower Broadway. The crux of the matter is children’s unrestricted access to online pornography. For our young ones, their smartphones serve as a gateway to a world reminiscent of 1975 Times Square, but without any age restrictions. They can access the darkest corners of the adult world without their parents’ knowledge.
Last week, The Free Press featured an essay by Isabel Hogben, a 16-year-old girl, titled “I Had a Helicopter Mom. I Found Pornhub Anyway.” She recounted stumbling upon pornography at the age of 10 on a website that required no age verification or ID. The website didn’t even ask if she was over 18. And what she witnessed was nothing short of disturbing – simulated incest, bestiality, extreme bondage, and unimaginable violence.
The purpose of this article isn’t to dwell on the negative aspects of online pornography. It should be evident that children, whether they are 10 or 16, should not be exposed to the explicit content Hogben encountered. We’ve long established legal age limits for accessing sexually explicit material in the offline world. And this content doesn’t magically become less harmful when viewed on a phone or laptop.
So why not apply offline regulations to the online world? If we can enforce age limits and age verification in the physical realm, we can certainly do the same online. If we can keep adult establishments away from children through zoning laws, we can replicate this online. By doing so, we can create a safer virtual world for our children without infringing on the rights of adults.
We’ve attempted this before. In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act, which criminalized the transmission of obscene or indecent material to minors online. However, the Supreme Court struck down the age limits, citing the inability to verify the age of internet users at that time. Their decision highlighted the novelty of the internet and the lack of adequate technology for age verification.
In 1998, Congress made another attempt with the Child Online Protection Act, but it was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2004. The court believed that blocking and filtering technologies were viable alternatives to age verification laws, but time has proven otherwise. Blocking and filtering simply don’t cut it.
Fast forward to 2023, and secure credit card usage and age verification online are commonplace. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter) have age restrictions for users. While creative kids can still find ways to circumvent these restrictions, it’s crucial to create obstacles that make access to pornography more difficult. When several states passed age verification laws, Pornhub pulled out of those areas.
Some may argue that age verification will inconvenience adults seeking pornography. However, age verification and zoning in the offline world also pose slight inconveniences to adults and are still considered legal. Adults don’t have a constitutional right to unrestricted access to pornographic material with complete anonymity. Just as zoning laws restrict the location of sex-oriented businesses, we can regulate access online.
The relevance of the Supreme Court’s 1997 ruling cannot be overstated. Two days after The Free Press published Hogben’s essay, a federal judge in Texas blocked the enforcement of the state’s age verification law, citing the Supreme Court’s precedent. As long as this outdated analysis remains, it will be challenging to create a constitutionally permissible age verification law. However, Texas is likely to appeal, giving the Supreme Court an opportunity to revisit its precedent in light of technological advancements.
This should not be a partisan issue. In Louisiana, for instance, a legislator named Laurie Schlegel introduced an age verification bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support in both the State House and Senate. I have yet to meet a parent who wants their children, regardless of their political or religious beliefs, to have access to graphic pornography. Even the judge who blocked the Texas law acknowledged that regulating a minor’s access to pornography is within the state’s rights.
The challenge we face is more technical than constitutional. The Supreme Court’s previous rulings can be seen as a “not yet” rather than a firm rejection. But now is the time to act. The need is evident, and the technology is available. Congress should take the initiative to clean up the internet in the same way cities tackled their red-light districts. We must use the law to restrict children’s access to pornography online.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
