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SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Lawmakers in the Minnesota House of Representatives are backing an age verification bill aimed at adult entertainment platforms. Republican state Rep. Ben Bakeberg introduced HF 1434, a proposal that would make Minnesota one of the latest states to require age-gating for access to adult content.

Under the legislation, adult websites and platforms operating within Minnesota’s digital space would need to implement a “commercially reasonable method to verify age and identity.” Many of the bill’s co-sponsors are Republicans. A companion measure in the Senate, SF 2105, has support from two members of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party, Minnesota’s affiliate of the Democratic Party.

During a hearing last week, the House Commerce Committee took up the bill, which is widely expected to move forward in the GOP-controlled House. The Senate remains under DFL control. It is unclear whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk. Among those lobbying in support of HF 1434 were Iain Corby, executive director of the Age Verification Providers Association, as well as several religious conservative groups.

True North Legal, a Saint Paul-based activist law firm, also registered support for HF 1434. Renee Carlson, the firm’s general counsel, described the proposal as “common sense,” pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton, which upheld a similar law in Texas.

Additional backing came from organizations including the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the Minnesota Family Council, and other religious conservative stakeholders. While opposition testimony was limited, several DFL lawmakers on the committee raised concerns about potential censorship stemming from the bill’s broad language.

If enacted, the measure would create a new private right of action allowing parents to bring lawsuits, authorize enforcement by the office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (DFL), and direct the state’s commissioner of commerce to approve acceptable age verification software providers. For now, the proposal sits in that familiar legislative limbo — debated, dissected, and waiting to see whether momentum turns into law.

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