Lawmakers in Rhode Island introduced a new bill in March that would impose a $20 fee on state residents who access online pornographic material.

The bill, which was introduced by Democratic state senators Frank Ciccone and Hanna Gallo, would require all internet service providers operating within the state to automatically block "sexual content and/or patently offensive material."

According to Rhode Island state law "patently offensive material" is defined anything that is "so offensive on its face as to affront current standards of decency." No additional clarification is provided, making the potential law a wide-ranging block of online content.

The content restriction would be the default mode of operation for internet service providers. In order to opt out of the state-mandated censorship, citizens of Rhode Island would have to pay a $20 fee.

Prior to paying the fee, residents would be required to submit in writing a request acknowledging that they would like to view pornography and other "patently offensive material."

The law requires those who want to bypass the block to prove they are at least 18 years of age, as well as receive and acknowledge a warning regarding the “potential danger of deactivating the digital blocking capability.”

After completing all of the required steps, the resident would have to pay the one-time, $20 fee to have content unblocked. Those payments from Rhode Islanders would go to the state’s council on human trafficking.

According to the proposed law, internet service providers would be required to block content including child pornography and revenge pornography, as well as websites that promote prostitution and human trafficking. ISPs that fail to comply with the law could be sued by the state attorney general for up to $500 for each piece of content that is reported but not subsequently blocked.

Rhode Island is just the latest state to adopt a “porn ban” designed to generate funds to fight human trafficking. Versions of a similar bill have been proposed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The Daily Beast traced such bills back to Chris Sevier—also known as Mark Sevier and Chris Severe—a 40-year-old provocateur who has worked with lawmakers in a number of states to bring the legislation to the floor.

Sevier, who was previously best known for his attempt to legally marry his computer as part of a protest against same-sex marriage, has a checkered history but claims he was motivated to craft his legislation after working with a human trafficking organization. The organization has refuted his involvement in any of their efforts.

It is unclear if Sevier is in any way linked to the Rhode Island legislation, though the bill bears striking resemblance to legislation he has worked to have brought to a vote in other states.

A number of groups have spoken out against such “porn ban” bills in the past. The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the proposals “technologically unworkable,” said the fees for removing the mandatory filters are a “censorship tax,” and noted the legislation would open consumers up to more data collection about their browsing habits.

The American Civil Liberties Union likewise spoke out against these types of bills. "The notion that you have to jump through some hoops as an adult to access free information on the Internet violates the First Amendment," the ACLU of Alabama told AL.com. "This is censorship, plain and simple."

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