PIERRE, S.D.—South Dakota is poised to adopt an extreme age verification law that explicitly targets adult entertainment platforms online. State senators advanced the bill in question in a floor vote on Wednesday, 34-0-1, with near unanimous support from the legislative body. One lawmaker abstained due to an excused absence.
House Bill (HB) 1053 would allow for the criminal prosecution of website operators who violate the law, as well as civil remedies and daily fines. Introduced by far-right state Rep. Bethany Soye, HB 1053 takes up “reasonable” age verification requirements on adult sites to verify the ages of users through government identification or other means.
Now that HB 1053 has passed both chambers of the South Dakota state legislature, it will be sent to Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden's desk. Rhoden is expected to sign the bill, adding South Dakota to a growing list of predominantly Republican-controlled state governments with such content-based restrictions.
It is also worth noting that HB 1053 would make South Dakota only the second state with such an aggressive approach to pornography age verification laws. Tennessee is the only other state in the U.S. with such aggressive policies, per AVN’s extensive reporting on age verification laws.
“It’s a huge step forward,” said state Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, the prime sponsor of House Bill 1053 in the state Senate, via South Dakota Searchlight. “It’s time to jump on board and protect our children from pornography on the internet.”
Rep. Soye failed to get age verification legislation passed during the 2024 legislative session. Instead, Soye’s bill at the time was gutted and rewritten, calling for a legislative study committee to analyze the issue of age verification, artificial intelligence, and minors’ safety online.
That legislative study committee was convened and concluded that porn age verification is necessary in the most extreme manner: criminal penalties. Such an approach was endorsed by state Attorney General Marty Jackley, whose office will proceed with any potential prosecutions against violators of HB 1053.
Soye also succeeded in advancing HB 1239, a bill that would penalize librarians who disseminate so-called “materials harmful to minors” through public libraries, schools, universities and museums throughout the state with misdemeanor penalties.
Samantha Chapman, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Dakota, said, “All means of age verification that are currently available to us today present substantial risks to anonymous web browsing and internet privacy, which will create a chilling effect on content that is legally available."
Her concerns mirror those of the ACLU's national affiliate, which is representing the Free Speech Coalition and the parent companies of the world’s largest adult entertainment platforms before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton, which challenges a similar age verification law in Texas.
