South Carolina Bill Would Block Porn, Unless You Pay Up

A new proposed bill in South Carolina would require that all computers sold in the state come with porn blocking software. If a manufacturer wanted to opt out of the requirement, or if a consumer wanted to have the adult filter removed on their device, they would have to pay $20 to the state.

That’s right: A South Carolinian would have to pay extra money to the government to be able to access adult content on the computer that they themselves own.

This piece of legislation, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, was pre-filed this month by Rep. Bill Chumley. It would require that anyone manufacturing or selling a computer in South Carolina install porn blocking software, unless they opt out by paying the $20 per device.

It also mandates the blocking of any site that facilitates sex work or that is seen as facilitating trafficking. Consumers can gain access to this material on their own computers, but only if they too pay $20 per device. All the money collected from computer manufacturers, porn watchers, and sex buyers and sellers would go to the state Attorney General’s human trafficking task force.

In a hard-to-follow line of logic, Chumley told GoUpstate, “If we could have manufacturers install filters that would be shipped to South Carolina, then anything that children have access on for pornography would be blocked. We felt like that would be another way to fight human trafficking.”

Clearly, no one has told Rep. Chumley about the ineffectiveness of porn blocking.