SandyMaloneProvidence, RI – State senators have proposed a bill that would require people to pay for access to online porn in Rhode Island.
Senators Frank Ciccone and Hanna Gallo, both Democrats, introduced legislation on Thursday that would require Internet providers to digitally block “sexual content and patently offensive material,” the Providence Journal reported.
Users would have the ability to unblock pornography for $20.
The text of the legislation does not define what constituted “offensive” material, the Newport Buzz reported.
The bill said that the attorney general or a consumer could file a civil suit of up to $500 for each piece of content that Internet service providers allowed to be accessed.
It appears that Senators Ciccone and Gallo don’t know what the internet is or how it works.
The bill called for the fees collected to unblock online porn to be paid quarterly to the state’s general treasurer, wo would give the money to the state attorney general’s office to fund the operations of the Council on Human Trafficking.
The Newport Buzz reported that the proposed legislation has many residents of the very liberal-leaning state confused, as it appeared to be an attack on the First Amendment.
The proposed legislation called on the state to set up a reporting mechanism, such as a website or call center, to allow a consumer “to report unblocked sexual content or potentially offensive material,” without offering any definition or explanation of what would be considered offensive and who would be making that determination.
Some people expressed opposition to the bill, criticizing the bill’s sponsors for equating porn with human trafficking, and for forcing the state to take on the monumental task of monitoring online porn.
“The magnitude of this task in practical application is so incredibly large, it is clear that no one writing this proposal has any f**king idea how anything digital works,” wrote dakanektr on Reddit. “Is this a power grab enabled by the current unwinding of Net Neutrality disguised as comically obvious incompetence?”
The bill was referred to the Senate’s judiciary committee for review.
Six states have already passed laws that label pornography a “public health concern,” FOX News reported.