Law / United States / 
Utah
SB 287 (2023), Online Pornography Viewing Age Requirements, as amended by SB 73 (2026), Online Age Verification Amendments
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since 3 May 2023.
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
As of 2 September 2026.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Makes a commercial entity that publishes material harmful to minors on a website where more than one third of total material is harmful to minors civilly liable if it fails to verify that Utah visitors are 18 or older using a digitized identification card, an independent third party age verification service, or a commercially reasonable method relying on transactional data.
SB 73 (2026) added Division of Consumer Protection enforcement effective May 6, 2026, a rule treating a user as accessing the site from Utah even through a VPN, and a 2 percent excise tax on covered content revenue effective October 1, 2026 that funds youth mental health programs and enforcement.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
Administrative fine or court-ordered civil penalty of up to $2,500 per violation, imposed by the Division of Consumer Protection or a court since SB 73 (2026) added Division enforcement; a separate civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation applies to violating an administrative or court order.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- 2 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 2,500
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Originally private civil liability only; since SB 73 (2026), also the Utah Division of Consumer Protection (Department of Commerce) with investigation authority, administrative fines, and civil penalties.
Litigation
- Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; U.S. District Court for the District of Utah
- Docket
- Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Anderson, No. 23-4104 (10th Cir. 2024) (challenge to the original 2023 law); Aylo Freesites Ltd. v. Utah Division of Consumer Protection, No. 2:26-cv-00340 (D. Utah) (challenge to the 2026 amendment)
- Posture
- The original 2023 law's challenge was dismissed on Eleventh Amendment immunity grounds because the law relied on private enforcement, affirmed by the Tenth Circuit on October 1, 2024. Aylo's challenge to the 2026 VPN and excise tax provisions, filed April 22, 2026, is pending, and the state agreed to delay enforcement of the VPN liability provision until September 3, 2026 while the case proceeds.
What it reaches
Age threshold
18
Covered services
Commercial entities for which a substantial portion (more than one third) of website content is pornography or other material harmful to minors.
Obligation class
Age verification, Retention
Verification methods
Digital ID, Third party service, Transactional data
When LexLint raises it
publishes_adult_content
Read the law
official enrolled bill text, Utah State Legislature
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.