Long hearing on age verification: supporters cite child‑protection claims; industry warns of privacy, legal and technical risks

The Senate Industry and Business Committee opened a lengthy public hearing on Senate Bill 23‑80, a bill that would require manufacturers, operating‑system providers and app stores to take commercially reasonable, technically feasible steps to verify whether primary device users are 18 or older and to block minors from accessing platforms that provide a substantial portion of mature content.

Proponents described the measure as a tool to protect children from early exposure to sexually explicit and violent content. John Begeman, identified in testimony as a representative of Pure Desire (a nonprofit focused on recovery from sexual‑behavior problems), described his own early exposure to explicit material and urged the committee to approve the bill. “If we have a customer by the age of 11, we will have a lifelong customer,” Begeman quoted from an industry statement as evidence of the scale and intent of commercial sites, and said age verification could reduce lifetime harm.

Clinicians and recovery specialists who testified in favor described repeated clinical experience linking early exposure to online explicit content with later relationship problems, compulsive sexual behavior and addiction. Licensed counselor Maggie Blaylock and other…