State Sen. Todd Weiler said he “took a lot of heat” in 2016 after Utah’s governor signed the resolution he sponsored declaring pornography a public health crisis.
“The comedians on the 10 o’clock night shows were making fun of me,” Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said in an interview.
At the time Gov. Gary Herbert signed the legislation, he called it “a bold assertion,” adding, “It is, in fact, the full-fledged truth.”
Utah’s resolution called for policy, education and research to address the “epidemic” of pornography. Since then, state lawmakers have introduced legislation that, in Weiler’s words, resulted in “sticking Utah’s neck out.”
“We’ve taken on all of the social media companies and the pornography companies,” Weiler said. “So, I think now we’re an outlier.”
But the tides might be turning, at least on the social media front.
“Now, in fact, we’re even getting some backup from Congress, the White House, the Surgeon General and others who are recognizing and calling out these social media companies for putting our kids in danger,” Weiler said.
Is the same thing starting to happen with pornography legislation?
When fake explicit images of singer Taylor Swift generated by artificial intelligence swept the internet, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation to help victims of deepfake pornography find legal recourse.
“Although the imagery may be fake, the harm to the victims from the distribution of sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’ is very real. Victims have lost their jobs, and they may suffer ongoing depression or anxiety,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a release. “By introducing this legislation, we’re giving power back to the victims, cracking down on the distribution of ‘deepfake’ images, and holding those responsible for the images accountable.”
A couple years back, Utah began its efforts to protect victims of deepfake pornography. State Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Murray, then a representative, introduced HB193, which prohibited distributors from disseminating counterfeit intimate images and also created penalties for those who unlawfully distribute these images. This year, Kwan has put forward SB66, a bill that adds one key word to state law: generated.
Adding this word is intended to “close a potential loophole with all the new AI technology,” Kwan said during a committee hearing. It was unanimously recommended by the committee earlier this month.
On the national stage, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reintroduced the PROTECT Act — a bill that requires “pornography sites to verify the ages of all participants in pornographic images.”
It also would mandate that sites “obtain verified consent forms from individuals uploading content and those appearing in uploaded content.” Pornographic websites would also have to take down images when these companies receive notice that the content was uploaded without consent.
Lee took to social media to ask Swift to support his legislation. “I have legislation to help get harmful deepfake images removed quickly, and create a way for people to sue companies that don’t take them down,” he said. “I’m re-introducing the PROTECT Act next week. Would love your support!”
It is also not Lee’s first time bringing legislation forward to address the issue of pornography. In 2022, Lee introduced the SCREEN Act. While the bill didn’t move forward, it would have required that all commercial pornographic websites verify the ages of their users to prevent children from accessing pornographic material. He reintroduced it in 2023.
“Given the alarming rate of teenage exposure to pornography, I believe the government must act quickly to enact protections that have a real chance of surviving First Amendment scrutiny,” Lee said at the time. “We require age verification at brick-and-mortar shops. Why shouldn’t we require it online?”
During the now infamous U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where Big Tech CEOs were asked questions by politicians, Lee spoke about the bill. “Tech companies need to do more to prevent the exploitation that is occurring on their platforms and allow individuals to remove images shared without their consent. The PROTECT Act is a step in that direction.”
Lee also reintroduced the SCREEN Act late last year. This act would require pornography companies to verify the ages of their users and block children’s access to pornography.
“It is time for our laws to catch up with technology. We must ensure that as the internet grows and changes, the safety of children is not left behind,” Lee said in a release. “The SCREEN Act addresses the urgent need to protect minors from exposure to online pornography and stop those who profit from stealing the innocence of America’s youth.”
Weiler passed a similar bill in Utah, modeled after a law passed by the Bayou State.
Louisiana Rep. Laurie Schlegel introduced the bill that required pornography websites to verify the ages of its users. After Utah passed its version, it was challenged in court, but has been upheld.
So what’s the next front for the Beehive State? A device filter bill. It’s another one of Weiler’s bills in what he described as over of a decade of work taking “pragmatic steps to help protect kids from pornography.”
He introduced SB104, also known as the Children’s Device Protection Act. The bill would require smartphones or tablets to automatically enable a filter on minor’s devices to prevent children from seeing explicit material.
Back in the ’60s and ’70s, if you bought a car, you would have to specifically order seat belts, Weiler said. But now, cars automatically come with seat belts because the government requires it. He drew this analogy to explain his bill. “Here we are on cellphones. The filters are already there,” he said. “We’re just asking them to turn them on for kids. And I don’t think it’s that big of a lift.”
Smartphones can estimate the ages of their users through its algorithms, Weiler argued. “They already know if somebody is likely around 14 or 15 or 12,” using targeted advertisements as an example of how technology companies may already have an estimate of users ages.
If the bill passes, Weiler anticipates additional legal challenges. “I think that’s a fight worth having because they’re going to argue First Amendment,” he said. “But I don’t think any of our Founding Fathers thought that children have the right to see pornography.”
“I understand that our courts have said that adults have a legal right to see that. But we’re not talking about adults. We’re talking about little kids,” Weiler continued.
A similar device filter bill was actually passed in 2021 after Rep. Susan Pulsipher, R-South Jordan, and Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorville, introduced it. The bill stipulated that it would go into effect after at least five other states passed similar legislation. Weiler said he was done waiting.
“It was introduced in five or six other states and the lobbyists were successful in killing it,” Weiler said. “And so now I’m thinking maybe Utah needs to just implement this and stick out its neck a little bit and other states with follow it.”