ADULT SITES GO DARK. Georgia’s new law aiming to stop children from looking at pornography online has put the state Legislature in a public battle with one of the world’s most visited websites.

Pornhub, the adult entertainment website, went dark in Georgia last week when the law took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar law in Texas. A message says the Canadian-owned company has disabled its website in Georgia “until a real solution is offered” and urges people to “contact your representatives before it is too late.”

But the threat didn’t seem to bother state Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, who sponsored the bill that Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law last year.

“It’s what you’d expect,” he said. “These foreign-owned websites, they don’t care about our children. They don’t. They’re just making money.”

Still, Jasperse has heard from plenty of irate Georgians angry about the law. But he said much of their ire isn’t about losing access to pornography, but rather having to submit their driver’s license or other government-issued ID before being able to view adult websites.

While doing so verifies a person’s age, it also removes the cloak of anonymity some people seek when viewing these websites. Jasperse said most of the comments he’s received have criticized him for forcing people to turn over more of their personal data to big business.

The law says companies aren’t allowed to store this data once they use it to verify someone’s age. But Jasperse acknowledged the law isn’t perfect. There are ways tech-savvy people can get around the verification system.

“Kids are resourceful. They’re going to figure ways around some of this. We figured out how to buy beer in the 70s,” he said. “But this is a barrier. And it really sends a message … that we can slow it down.”

Read more by subscribing to the Politically Georgia newsletter