Pornography has been recognised as a “public health hazard” by the US state of Idaho.
The State Senate voted unanimously to back a resolution that encourages efforts to combat the “epidemic” of porn in the state.
It was introduced by Representative Lance Clow, who said: “Families are torn apart because of the proliferation of this material. Our communities, state and nation are being harmed at an epidemic rate.”
Crisis
The Idaho resolution was modelled on a similar measure that was passed in Utah in 2016.
Since then, several other states have declared porn to be a ‘public health crisis’ including Kansas, Florida, Virginia and South Dakota.
In the UK, the Government recently announced that it has delayed plans to require pornography websites to verify the age of users.
Age verification
Ministers first announced in 2016 that they planned to give the British Board of Film Classification powers to restrict UK and overseas sites which fail to block under-18s.
The new powers were expected to be introduced in April, but the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced that this will no longer be the case.
A Government spokesman said: “We need to take the time to make sure we get it right if it’s going to work, and will come into effect later this year”.