On Tuesday, the Missouri House of Representatives Committee on Children and Families heard a trio of bills aiming to protect minors from accessing harmful pornographic content online. HB 1839, sponsored by Representative Sherri Gallick (R-Belton), HB 2921, sponsored by Representative Melissa Schmidt (R-Eldridge), and HB 3015, sponsored by Representative Jeff Farnan (R-Stanberry), would require internet pornography companies to verify the ages of anyone attempting to access their content. The bills would bar minor users from accessing the websites, and require the websites not to store any of the identification information of adult users, including a monetary fine for violations of either restriction in these bills.
The MCC has testified in support of these proposals. The bills now await an executive session in which the Children and Families Committee will determine whether the bills move to the full House for debate.