U.S. House Approves Age Verification for Porn Websites

Written by David E. Smith

Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 7757, the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, a broad online child protection package that includes H.R. 1623, the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, sponsored by Illinois’s own Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Quincy) in the U.S. House.

This legislation passed in the U.S. House on June 28, 2026 by a vote of 267-117. It now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

The SCREEN Act would establish a national age-verification requirement for commercial websites that distribute obscene material, making it far more difficult for children to access online pornography. According to a fact sheet published by U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), the bill’s chief sponsor in the U.S. Senate, the legislation would give parents another tool to protect their children from sexually explicit content that is often only a few clicks away.

Miller celebrated the U.S. House’s action, saying, “Today’s internet has made explicit sexual content more accessible than ever before, putting countless children at risk.” She added that the SCREEN Act “empowers parents and protects children by ensuring that obscene websites verify users’ ages before exposing minors to harmful material.”

Lee emphasized the importance of restoring parental authority in the digital age. “Parents deserve effective tools to protect their children from online pornography,” he said when introducing the legislation earlier this year. He argued that requiring age verification is a common-sense safeguard that helps keep obscene material out of the hands of minors.

The SCREEN Act was included in the larger KIDS Act, a bipartisan package designed to strengthen online protections for children, increase parental controls, and require stronger safeguards against harmful online content. The legislation is an important step toward holding technology companies accountable while giving parents greater ability to protect their children in the digital world.

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‘The House Is on Fire’: House Passes Online Protections to Shield Children From Porn