Utah law requiring porn sites verify user ages takes effect

SALT LAKE CITY — You may soon be required to prove you’re older than 18 to watch porn in Utah, if adult websites comply with a law that took effect Wednesday.

A new state law requiring adult websites verify the ages of their users took effect on Wednesday, making the state at least the second to enact an age verification law to shield kids from sexually explicit materials that have become increasingly accessible online.

“It’s part of our job as society — and maybe a subset of my job as a lawmaker — to try to protect children,” state Sen. Todd Weiler, the measure’s Republican sponsor, said. “I’m not gonna blame all of society’s ills on pornography, but I don’t think it’s helpful when a kid is forming their impressions of sex and gender to have all of this filth and lewd depictions on their mind.”

It’s currently illegal to show children pornography under federal law, however it’s rarely enforced. The law is Utah’s latest move to crack down on access to pornography and dovetails with lawmakers’ other efforts to restrict how kids use the internet, including social media sites. It comes less than a year after Louisiana enacted a similar law and as additional states consider such policies as filters or age verification for adult websites.

Dr. Eleanor Gaetan of the anti-porn National Center on Sexual Exploitation said filters and age verification were “complimentary efforts” to limit kids’ access to pornography. She noted anti-porn sentiment had grown substantially in recent years due to a “groundswell of parents,” including ones who’ve testified in statehouses throughout the country and in front of the U.S. Congress.

“The wave will continue because the harms are real,” she said. “These kids can’t unsee what they see.”

Though heralded by social conservatives, age verification laws have been condemned by adult websites who argue they’re part of a larger anti-sex political movement. They’ve also garnered opposition from groups that advocate for digital privacy and free speech, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The group argued earlier this year that it’s impossible to ensure websites don’t retain user data, regardless of if age verification laws require they delete it.

Earlier this week, Pornhub, among the most widely viewed adult websites, blocked access to its content to protest the law. Those in Utah attempting to access the site since Monday have been greeted with a “Dear User” letter and accompanying video…