LEXINGTON, KY – The Family Foundation released the following statement after Pornhub, the largest provider of online pornography, announced it was shutting down access in Kentucky ahead of HB 278 going into effect in July. The Family Foundation helped advocate for HB 278 and its protections for children online by requiring meaningful age verification for pornographic websites.
Statement from David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation:
“This is another big victory for protecting kids across Kentucky. Families are facing the harrowing task of protecting their children from a wide range of online harms – including pornography and its devastating consequences. We celebrate that Pornhub is leaving Kentucky, as it has done in other states, when laws are passed preventing access for children. We must continue to protect children online from the massive porn and social media industries that should be protecting kids rather than profiting from them.
“We are thankful for the bipartisan vote in the Kentucky General Assembly to pass HB 278. The Family Foundation looks forward to continuing to advocate for additional protections for children online, including from the harms of social media,” Walls concluded.
HB 278 by Rep. Matt Lockett unanimously passed in the 2024 General Assembly. The Senate passed the bill 36-0 with an adopted amendment by Sen. Gex Williams containing the online protections for children. The bill was passed with a bipartisan vote of 96-0 in the House.
The amended bill requires any website that knowingly publishes or distributes material that is harmful to minors to verify that the viewers are over the age of 18. At least 17 states have passed similar legislation, including a bill in Texas that was recently upheld by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Studies have shown that the average age of first exposure to pornography is between 7 and 13, and that by the age of 17, about 75% of adolescents have been exposed to pornography.
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The Family Foundation is the leading Christian public policy organization in Kentucky and stands for Kentucky families and the Biblical values that make them strong. Learn more at kentuckyfamily.org.
