Summary
The Verge feature (Aug 2023) on the wave of US state-level age-verification and child-protection bills, framing them as “an attempt to remake the internet” rather than narrowly about porn or kids. Documents Louisiana’s 2022 first-mover law (LA Wallet integration); 17+ copycat states; Texas’s late-Aug 2023 rollout; PornHub’s blanket-block strategy; the dollars-and-cents impact on smaller adult sites (Dominic Ford / JustFor.Fans: 9% completion, $1.50/verification cost); and the use of KOSA as the federal vehicle for the same logic. Exposes NCOSE (formerly Morality in Media) as a primary lobbying force with anti-LGBTQ+ history.
Key Points
- Louisiana 2022: First state to age-gate online porn; uses LA Wallet (digital ID); inspired ~17 copycat bills.
- Pornhub blocked all traffic from restrictive states rather than implement verification.
- JustFor.Fans data: Only 25% of users click the verification link; 9% complete; $1.50/user cost; “drops drastically.”
- Utah Social Media Regulation Acts: Mandate parental consent for minors; give parents access to children’s posts and passwords; copied by Arkansas, proposed in Louisiana, Texas, federally.
- Heritage Foundation openly says KOSA will let lawmakers police trans content (per the article, a KOSA supporter).
- NCOSE / Morality in Media history: President Patrick Trueman previously at Family Research Council (SPLC-designated hate group); group has lobbied against LGBTQ+ rights and sex workers (NCOSE denies). Article carries NCOSE rebuttal.
- Reno v. ACLU (1997) — the article’s historical anchor; Supreme Court struck down CDA indecency provisions as First Amendment violation; same line of attack expected on KOSA.
- France CNIL verification investigation found many systems “intrusive.”
- State public-health resolutions: “more than a dozen states” have declared porn a public health crisis despite weak research base.
- Evan Greer quote: “I think progressives had the idea that they wanted to regulate Big Tech without fully appreciating the degree to which they were playing with fire.”
Newsletter Angles
- Politics / Power: This piece explicitly names the bills as “less about adult content and more about an attempt to remake the internet in a way that makes it kid-safe” — i.e., the cluster is about regime change for the internet, not just child safety.
- Editorial hook: The Reno v. ACLU parallel is the throughline. The 1997 case settled that you can’t censor adult speech to protect minors. The 2023–2026 wave is testing whether a more conservative court will reverse that. KOSA, SCREEN, etc. are designed to set up that test.
- NCOSE/Morality in Media as the connective tissue — same lobbying organization across decades, just rebranded. Worth its own entity page.
- Useful primary numbers (drop in completion rates, cost per verification) for any piece grounding the operational impact.
Entities Mentioned
- Mike Stabile — Free Speech Coalition public affairs director
- Jason Kelley — EFF activism director
- Evan Greer — Fight for the Future director
- Dominic Ford — JustFor.Fans creator (operational data source)
- NCOSE — primary anti-porn lobbying group
- Patrick Trueman — NCOSE president; ex–Family Research Council
- Heritage Foundation — KOSA supporter, openly anti-LGBTQ+ framing
- Free Speech Coalition — adult industry trade association
- Electronic Frontier Foundation — opposing voice
- Marsha Blackburn — KOSA co-sponsor
- Richard Blumenthal — KOSA co-sponsor
- Joe Biden — pressured Congress for child-safety legislation in last two SOTUs
- Pornhub / MindGeek — block-rather-than-comply strategy
- ACLU — historical antagonist via Reno v. ACLU; ongoing party in current suits
Concepts Mentioned
- Age Verification
- KOSA
- Reno v. ACLU — controlling First Amendment precedent
- Communications Decency Act — original 1996 law
- Book Bans — directly named as the parallel offline movement
- Public Health Crisis Designation as Lawmaking Lever
Quotes
“What we’re looking at is less about adult content and more about an attempt to remake the internet” — Mike Stabile, Free Speech Coalition
“I think progressives had the idea that they wanted to regulate Big Tech without fully appreciating the degree to which they were playing with fire.” — Evan Greer
“Many people are afraid of standing up for free speech and for the access of minors to content because so many things are turned into divisive grooming or child trafficking conversation when they are not that at all.” — Jason Kelley, EFF
Notes
The Verge is a tech-policy outlet with a digital-rights-sympathetic editorial line, but the piece sources both sides (NCOSE rebuttal included; KOSA sponsor statements quoted). Strong on operational numbers (verification completion rates, cost). Note: published Aug 2023 — predates the second Trump administration and current FTC weaponization that later sources (Greer/Rose 2025) emphasize. Use as the historical baseline for what was visible before the political situation got worse.
Cited explicitly by Bad Internet Bills — Fight for the Future Campaign Hub as a Further Resources link.