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A look at Youngkin amendments that deal with internet safety

In this Thursday, March 12, 2015 photo, a first-grader learns keyboarding skills at Bayview Elementary School in San Pablo, Calif.
Eric Risberg
/
AP
In this Thursday, March 12, 2015 photo, a first-grader learns keyboarding skills at Bayview Elementary School in San Pablo, Calif.

Lawmakers will be returning to Richmond next week to consider amendments from the governor. Some of the amendments deal with internet safety.

Senator Bill Stanley is a Republican from Franklin County who’s concerned about the proliferation of pornography online. That's why he introduced a bill that will requires websites verify whether someone is 18 or older before they allow access.

"When we had video stores that was pretty easy to enforce because kids under the age of 18 couldn't go into the back room," Stanley explains. "But now we have the internet, and the internet is not only brilliant in terms of what it can do for all of our lives, but it also possesses a dangerous edge to it."

Now, Governor Glenn Youngkin is adding some amendments to ban advertising targeted at minors and requiring parental consent for data collection. Victoria Cobb at the Family Foundation says his amendments make a good bill better.

"He's simply trying to say, ‘Look we don't want people taking advantage of our kids. So, let's not sell their data simply because we are trying to make sure that they verify that people are adults before they see material that's harmful to minors,’" Cobb says.

Lawmakers will be considering the governor's amendments on April 12th. If they reject his amendments, the governor has a choice: sign the original bill he received or forget about it and move on.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.