Porn filters could be coming to smart phones, tablets

Lawmakers in several states are sponsoring legislation this year to require new smart phones and electronic tablets to come with default obscenity filters designed to prevent youth from viewing pornographic materials and other “harmful” content.

Obscenity filter bills have been filed in Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, according to tracking by the government relations services firm MultiState. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed similar legislation in 2021, but the requirement does not take effect unless at least five additional states adopt their own bills.

Under the introduced measures, device makers such as Apple, Google and Samsung would have to change their default settings to automatically enable filters that block adult sexual content. Parents or guardians could override the filter using a special passcode.

“It’s empowering parents to determine what material is appropriate for their children while still maintaining adults’ rights to free speech,” Montana Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway (R) said at a public hearing in Senate on Wednesday. Sheldon-Galloway is the prime sponsor of Montana’s obscenity filter bill, which previously passed the House.

A version of the legislation advanced out of an Idaho Senate committee this week, but then failed by a single vote when it came before the full Senate. In Tennessee, committee action was scheduled but then deferred.

“The bill is just to protect children from accessing inappropriate sites, pornographic sites on their cell phones,” Tennessee Sen. Joey Hensley (R), the bill’s prime sponsor, told WATE TV last month.

Under Tennessee law, harmful materials are defined as content that appeals “predominantly to the prurient, shameful or morbid interests of minors.”

Critics say the filters — if mandated — could ensnare more than just pornographic content and that requiring them as a default setting would sew confusion for consumers and create regulatory uncertainty for companies.

This week, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Apple and Google, sent letters to lawmakers in Idaho, Montana and Tennessee opposing the measures.

“Requiring a state-specific content filter would be technically infeasible for businesses to implement as manufacturers produce devices at the national — not state — level,” CCIA state policy director Khara Boender said in a statement.

CCIA also objected to the bills on the grounds that parents already have access to tools and settings to moderate what content their children have access to.

In an email to Pluribus News, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said it opposes the measures because they “violate our right to freely access information on the internet.”

The content filter bills are modeled on legislation developed in 2019 by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which led to passage of the Utah law. NCOSE’s general counsel, Benjamin Bull, told Pluribus News he hopes the legislative push to pass versions of the law in additional states will convince device makers to voluntarily make the content filter a default setting.

“The industry could do this tomorrow, and I think it will because it’s the right thing, it’s the simple thing and that moots the whole issue,” Bull said. He gave the example of Google enabling SafeSearch on Chromebooks that are issued to school kids.

This is not the first time content filter legislation has been introduced in multiple states. In 2017 and 2018, legislation dubbed the “Human Trafficking Prevention Act” would have required obscenity filters to be installed on any internet-connected device. To remove the filter, consumers would have had to pay a $20 fee.

That legislation, which also targeted prostitution sites, was pushed by an opponent of same-sex marriage who made headlines for suing for the right to get married to his computer.  

This year, versions of that more expansive bill have been introduced in Minnesota and Oklahoma.

The content filter bills are part of a broader push in multiple states this year to shield young people from potential harm on the internet. This includes legislation to require parental permission for social media accounts and regarding youth data privacy. Separately, a number of states have introduced bills modeled after a new Louisiana law that requires age verification to access pornographic websites.

Max Rieper, a senior legislative analyst at MultiState, said inaction at the congressional level is fueling much of the state-level efforts.

“The lack of federal action I think has really allowed this to happen — allowed these lawmakers to rush in and fill this void,” Rieper said.

This story has been updated to note the Idaho bill was voted down by the full Senate.