Failed to pass both houses, will not become law this session
This bill proposes to “card” people when they visit certain websites by requiring age verification for people to access websites with content deemed “material harmful to minors.”
Under the bill, age verification could be conducted by checking a website-user’s government-issued identification card or “by using any commercially reasonable method that uses public or private transactional data gathered about the individual.”
While intended to protect minors, this bill exposes adult Wisconsinites to harmful surveillance and violates the First Amendment, by requiring internet users to provide personal information to companies or applications that purport to be able to verify their ages.
By requiring someone to present an official ID to merely visit a website, this may block some people – for example, those who lack government identification or whose age is misidentified by the relevant technology – from accessing the sites altogether.
