Irish Senate Endorses Age Verification Proposal Based on Anti-Porn US State Laws

DUBLIN — The Senate of the Republic of Ireland — known by its Gaelic name Seanad Éireann — has endorsed an age verification bill introduced by a senator who said he was inspired by the U.S. state laws promoted by religious conservative anti-porn crusaders.

As XBIZ reported, Senator Rónán Mullen introduced his Protection of Children (Online Age Verification) Bill earlier this month, which was backed by Ireland’s upper house after its second reading. The bill is now awaiting the committee stage.

The bill is co-sponsored by fellow Independent senators Michael McDowell, Sharon Keogan and Gerard Craughwell, and three Government senators: Fianna Fáil’s Erin McGreehan, Diarmuid Wilson and Aidan Davitt.

Mullen has claimed that his bill, which replicates the language of similar measures drafted by U.S. and U.K. anti-porn crusaders, is needed to address “widespread public concern about the proliferation of pornographic material freely available on the internet, and about the damage that this can do to children and their families.”

Mullen specifically cited U.S. states’ age verification laws and hailed as a victory the fact that their imprecise language, which has already had a chilling effect on free speech, has led companies like Pornhub to cease streaming content in those states.

A British religious activist group celebrated the Irish Senate’s endorsement of a bill they claim addresses “the dangers of online pornography.”

According to a Christian Institute report, Irish senators offered “wide support for preventing under-18s from accessing pornography as senators highlighted its association with violence against and degradation of women.”

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin raised issues with the bill’s proposals, but Mullen said the law was needed to “make our society safe for women to walk the streets and go about their daily lives realizing that the men around them see them not as objects but in a respectful, empathic way as equal partners in humanity.”

Main Image: Irish Senator Rónán Mullen