The Internet Safety and Child Protection Act of 2005, introduced by Democrat Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and eight other Senators, was published in coordination with the release of a new report by Third Way, a centrist think tank and advocacy group.
Third Way’s report exposes alarming statistics linking children to pornographic web sites. It finds that children between the ages of 12-17 are the largest viewers of internet pornography, and the average age at which children are first exposed to on-line pornography is 11 years of age.
“The internet has become our new American Main Street, and it’s literally transforming the experience of growing up in America in a way much different from the way parents of today grew up,” Senator Lincoln said.
“Many internet service providers have taken significant steps to provide parents with tools to protect their children from inappropriate material on-line and they should be commended,” she continued. “But sadly, many adult oriented web sites in today’s on-line world are not only failing to keep products unsuitable for children from view, but are also pushing those products in children’s faces. And it’s time that we stand up and say, enough is enough. Adult, for-profit web sites will be required to use software to verify the age of users attempting to access their web sites. On-line merchants, banks, and credit card companies will not be able to process payment transactions that are not age verified. The FTC will issue and enforce the regulations outlined in this section.
Democrat Representatives Jim Matheson and Robert Menendez have introduced similar legislation into the House of Representatives.