(Image: Shih Wei Wang / EyeEm)A Utah lawmaker is looking to keep children from accessing pornographic material on cell phones and tablets.
Rep.
Susan Pulsipher (R-South Jordan) recently introduced HB 72, which would require cell phone and tablet manufacturers to sell devices in Utah with content filters set to on, to block objectionable material, FOX 13 reports.
Those filters are aimed specifically at pornography.
When introducing the bill, Pulsipher spoke of an acquaintance who was exposed to porn at an early age, which she claimed affected him throughout his adult life.
So Pulsipher says she wants to keep children from accidentally seeing porn.
Adults, however, would simply need to enter a passcode to turn off content filters.
"We're not asking to do something that we don't already have on our devices," Pulsipher said.
"We're just asking to have those filters turned on, to just make it a little bit easier for parents and safer for our kids."
Most cell phones already come with content filters.
While they are typically sold with these filters turned off, they're usually simple to customize.
There are also third-party apps and services that block adult content.
Bill detractors argue that allowing cell phone manufacturers to decide the type of content that should be filtered isn't feasible.
"The constitutional problems with this bill are numerous," said NetChoice VP Carl Szabo.
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Speaking to FOX 13, child psychologist Douglas Goldsmith highlighted another glaring issue with the bill.
"The problem is how vast the access is," he said.
"They can go on YouTube and find this information, they can go on TikTok, they can go on Reddit, on any of these sites they can find stuff that we don't want our children looking at."
Lawmakers have not currently taken any action on the bill yet.
(Image: Shih Wei Wang / EyeEm)A Utah lawmaker is looking to keep children from accessing pornographic material on cell phones and tablets.
Rep.
Susan Pulsipher (R-South Jordan) recently introduced HB 72, which would require cell phone and tablet manufacturers to sell devices in Utah with content filters set to on, to block objectionable material, FOX 13 reports.
Those filters are aimed specifically at pornography.
When introducing the bill, Pulsipher spoke of an acquaintance who was exposed to porn at an early age, which she claimed affected him throughout his adult life.
So Pulsipher says she wants to keep children from accidentally seeing porn.
Adults, however, would simply need to enter a passcode to turn off content filters.
"We're not asking to do something that we don't already have on our devices," Pulsipher said.
"We're just asking to have those filters turned on, to just make it a little bit easier for parents and safer for our kids."
Most cell phones already come with content filters.
While they are typically sold with these filters turned off, they're usually simple to customize.
There are also third-party apps and services that block adult content.
Bill detractors argue that allowing cell phone manufacturers to decide the type of content that should be filtered isn't feasible.
"The constitutional problems with this bill are numerous," said NetChoice VP Carl Szabo.
Recommended by Our Editors
Speaking to FOX 13, child psychologist Douglas Goldsmith highlighted another glaring issue with the bill.
"The problem is how vast the access is," he said.
"They can go on YouTube and find this information, they can go on TikTok, they can go on Reddit, on any of these sites they can find stuff that we don't want our children looking at."
Lawmakers have not currently taken any action on the bill yet.
