R.I. bill would force internet customers to pay $20 to access adult content

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A proposed bill in Rhode Island would block adult content online and force internet customers to pay a $20 fee to unblock it.

The new measure would require ISPs to block ‘sexual content and/or patently offensive material.’ The customer would then have to pay a fee for the sites to be unblocked.

The bill would also require ISPs to make sure child pornography, revenge pornography and ‘any hub that facilitates prostitution’ are inaccessible.

If you do choose to unblock the content, you would receive a written warning ‘regarding the potential danger of deactivating the digital blocking capability.’

The $20 ‘digital access fee’ would be a one-time payment.

But the bill also considers ISPs may take advantage of the block and remove access to things that shouldn’t be blocked. However, the ‘reasonable’ time frame for unblocking content that doesn’t fall under the ban would be five days.

The bill was introduced March 1 by Senator Frank Ciccone (D – Providence) and Senator Hannah Gallo (D – Cranston).

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