Law / United States / 
Ohio
HB 96, Internet Age Verification for Obscenity or Material Harmful to Juveniles
Ohio Rev. Code sections 1349.10 and 1349.101
In force since .
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Applies to any entity that sells, disseminates or presents material or a performance on the internet that is obscene or harmful to juveniles.
- Verify that a user, and any person creating an account or subscription, is 18 or older using a reasonable method such as government-issued identification, a commercial age verification system or transactional data.
- Re-verify a user's age every two years.
- You need not do this if you qualify as an interactive computer service under federal law.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionNo
Penalties
Injunctive relief sought by the Attorney General after written notice and a 45 day cure period; repeat violations may be pursued without a new cure period.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Ohio Attorney General (exclusive authority)
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Is a website that carries material harmful to juveniles uploaded by its users a "provider of an interactive computer service" exempt under Ohio Revised Code section 1349.10(D)(2), when the same operator may also be an "organization" under section 1349.10(A)(8)(a)?
- What share of an operator's revenues or content is "a significant or substantial portion" under Ohio Revised Code section 1349.10(A)(8)(a), so that it is an organization that must verify age?
What it reaches
Age threshold
18
Covered services
Websites and services distributing material obscene or harmful to juveniles, excluding entities that qualify as interactive computer services under federal law
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
User location
Verification methods
Gov ID, Transactional data, Third party service
What it makes you log
Log retention
- As of
- Basis
- Purpose bound
- Prohibits retaining
- All information gathered for the purpose of age verification once verification is completed, except information kept for account, subscription access and billing
Logging duty
The section requires age verification, reverification every two years and a geofence, and requires deletion of age verification information once verification is complete, except information kept for account, subscription access and billing, which is deleted two years after the account is created unless renewed. It names no log of the check.
- Kind
- None
- As of
- Provision
- Ohio Rev. Code 1349.10(B) and (C)
What this law does
Any entity that sells, disseminates, or presents material or a performance that is obscene or harmful to juveniles on the internet must verify that a user, and any person creating an account or subscription, is 18 or older using reasonable methods such as government-issued identification, a commercial age verification system, or transactional data, and must reverify age every two years.
The law exempts entities that qualify as interactive computer services under federal law, an exemption the Attorney General says most major pornography sites are relying on to avoid compliance, and which lawmakers were considering narrowing as of early 2026.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app publishes adult content.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .