After Utah enacted a law mandating age verification for porn sites, Pornhub simply blocked users it geolocated within the state. Now an adult entertainment industry group is suing over the restrictions.
The law, which took effect Wednesday, made Utah the second state to require adult websites to verify the age of those who want to view their pages — either through an independent contractor or digital ID. Lawmakers likened the requirement to those for alcohol or online gambling and argued that stronger protections were needed to shield kids from pornography, which is ubiquitous online. The Free Speech Coalition — along with an erotica author and companies that manage adult websites and are party to the suit — argues that Utah's new law unfairly discriminates against certain kinds of speech, violates the First Amendment rights of porn providers and intrudes on the privacy of individuals who want to view sexually explicit materials. The plaintiffs have asked a federal judge to bar enforcement of the law until their legal challenge is resolved.
Utah is the second U.S. state to do this. Britain, after 13 years of Conservative government, is set to do likewise as part of a massive omnibus bill that effectively prohibits end-to-end encryption and demands that privately-owned online services heavily moderate "trolls" while prohibiting censorship of "political opinions."
