NC Family Staff | September 26, 2023 | SHARE: 
Last week, in the midst of the state budget debates, the N.C. Legislature passed an important piece of legislation to protect minor children in our state from the harms of pornography. The measure, entitled the “Pornography Age Verification Act” or “PAVE Act,” was passed via an amendment to House Bill 8.
In essence, the PAVE Act requires that: “Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet…shall, through use of (i) a commercially available database that is regularly used by businesses or governmental entities for the purpose of age and identity verification, or (ii) another commercially reasonable method of age and identity verification, verify the age of the individuals attempting to access the material.”
This bill would establish civil liabilities, including compensatory and punitive damages, if a commercial entity allows minors access to online pornography. North Carolina now joins Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi, and Montana in the effort to protect minors from the porn industry through state legislation.
In several of these states, Pornhub – a giant in the porn industry – has essentially shut down operations, blocking all users from its site.
Conversely, in Texas late last month, a federal judge ruled that a similar law violated the U.S. Constitution’s right of free speech. The suit, which was brought by the Free Speech Coalition, included Pornhub’s parent company. The ruling was immediately appealed by the Texas acting Attorney General, Angela Colmenaro.
Similar lawsuits are expected to move through the courts as more states move to protect their children from these easily accessible and harmful pornography sites.
NC Family is grateful that our state legislators moved forward with this very important legislation, and we encourage Governor Roy Cooper to sign House Bill 8 into law.
