Utah to start enforcing its law requiring porn sites to verify ages of users | KSL.com

October 31, 2026 by Chief Editor

Utah Enforcement Begins on Adult Website Age Verification

Beginning Monday, Utah will initiate enforcement of its age verification regulations for adult websites, aiming to penalize businesses that permit underage individuals to watch online pornography. KSL.com reported that the state’s Department of Commerce confirmed a recent court ruling blocking part of the law still allows the state to take action against companies that fail to adequately verify user ages.

Commerce Department Strategy and Penalties

“Porn is one of the most damaging content that we see out there in general and I think people recognize that it screws them up mentally,” Margaret Busse, executive director of the commerce department, told KSL. “These are just not good sites, and frankly, the purveyors of them — I don’t know how they sleep at night.”

State lawmakers approved SB73 earlier this year, expanding on an earlier statute that required adult websites to verify user ages. The updated law empowers the Division of Consumer Protection to actively pursue violators. It also establishes a new tax on adult websites to fund enforcement and a youth mental health fund, while targeting companies that allow users to bypass checks via virtual private networks or other technologies.

State officials can fine companies up to $2,500 per violation. Busse noted that the department has implemented specialized computing and auditing infrastructure developed by enterprise technology partners, though she did not elaborate on the specific mechanics.

“We just want them to stop doing it,” Busse said regarding age verification compliance. “We’re not looking to go and make money off of this, so to speak. We’re not looking to go and issue a lot of fines. We’re looking to make sure they are doing it.”

Legislative Intent and Industry Response

Sen. Calvin Musselman, R-West Haven, sponsored the legislation to assist parents managing online safety.

“I’m a parent. I recognize the burden of parenting,” Sen. Calvin Musselman said. “They need all the help they can get and it’s not unreasonable to ask those that are providing that material to provide some level of scrutiny as to who’s accessing it. They say they only want to provide access for adults. Then, fine, let’s just simply age verify then.”

Following a lawsuit filed last month against the state by Pornhub, RedTube, and other adult platform owner Aylo over the legislation, enforcement of the virtual private networks rule was temporarily halted. After the state’s initial push for mandatory age verification, Aylo chose to restrict Utah residents’ access to its platforms.

In a detailed statement, the company noted that Pornhub has adhered to the original 2023 Utah mandate since its inception. “We are glad to see the state of Utah will finally enforce its law after 3.5 years, but this changes nothing about our operations,” the company told KSL. “Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults.”

The company advocated for performing age verification directly on the device as the best solution. Meanwhile, Busse clarified that Utah’s law requires companies to verify ages rather than identities, and mandates the immediate deletion of verification data without state collection.

Porn Companies Sue Utah Over Law Requiring Age Verification

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