Senate Committee Considers Bill to Protect Children from Obscene Materials Online

This week, the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee considered SB 923, sponsored by Senator Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville), that would require internet service providers to install authentication password software to protect children from accessing pornography online. Witnesses, including nurses who treat child victims of sexual assault, testified that they are seeing an increasing number of children who are being sexually assaulted by other children, who themselves have been exposed to pornographic materials. The testimony was at times graphic and unsettling. The Missouri Catholic Conference testified in support of the bill.