The Wyoming and South Dakota age verification laws may require age verification on way more sites than we’ve seen so far in the US, potentially extending to Amazon, Netflix, and any site that has something NSFW on it at all.
By omitting the “one-third” provision that most other states with age verification laws have adopted, Wyoming and South Dakota are placing the burden of verifying users’ ages on all sorts of websites, far beyond porn. The one-third provision meant that a site needed to have at least 1/3 of its content be NSFW in order for the law to apply.
Summary mostly a quote with explainer of the one-third provision by me
I think this is the next step in the government clenching down on digital freedom, and we need to take this as a rallying cry to take action.
Actions you can take:
- If you live in Wyoming, South Dakota, or any of the dozens of states that have enacted age verification laws, you need to call your reps and tell them this is unacceptable.
- If you live in a state that doesn’t have a law like this on the docket, call and mandate that they never consider a law like this.
- Call your congressional representatives and tell them to not consider a law like this, and to instead pass a law that protects digital privacy.
- Share these news and the implications with friends and family. Show how age verification is a cost that everyone has to pay for idea that likely will not work to “protect the kids.”
- Keep on calling. Call every weekday.
Similar to what we do with technology, I’m not saying you have to do all of these things. But if you’re disheartened by the way 2025 is going for digital privacy, if you feel the walls closing in, and you’re asking yourself what can you do, you can start with these things above.
Now is the time to fight. It will be harder to fight back the more they erode our rights.