Idaho Senator revives cellphone pornography filters bill

BOISE — An Idaho senator is bringing back a bill to require cellphone manufacturers to enable pornography filters on devices used by minors.

A similar piece of legislation was narrowly killed by the Senate last year in an 18-17 vote, Idaho Reports reported.

Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, said this year’s bill doesn’t include a private civil cause of action, as last year’s did.

“It was causing noise,” Cook said of the individual liability portion of his previous bill. “And I went back and focused on what is the real problem that I’m trying to fix here, and the real problem is giving parents the ability to keep their children from pornography.”

Under the legislation, beginning on Jan. 1, 2025, devices activated in Idaho must contain a filter, determine the age of users during activation and account set up, enable the filter for those under age 18, notify the user when a filter blocks the device from accessing a website, and provide the user with a password and opportunity to deactivate and activate the filter.

If a minor accesses obscene materials on the device, the attorney general would be able to take civil action against the manufacturer of the device for up to $5,000 per violation, and up to $50,000 for aggregate cases. The attorney general would also be able to seek revocation of license or certification that authorizes the manufacturer to do business in Idaho.

Senate Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, R-Boise, thanked Cook for bringing the bill back. He likened it to legislation that has been introduced the past three years that would prohibit minors’ access to materials deemed “harmful” in libraries.

“I still don’t understand the difference of this and the library bills that we’ve been dealing with, but there’s more access to pornography through the cellphone than there is through a library,” Winder said, “so I don’t understand why we have opposing sides on this but I’d like to see your bill advance.”

The Senate State Affairs Committee unanimously introduced the legislation, which will allow it to come forward for a public hearing.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.