Frequently Asked Questions
About Age Verification

last updated: November 19, 2024

In 2022, Louisiana passed a law that said:

Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material shall be held liable if the entity fails to perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the material.

Since then, nineteen additional states have passed age verification laws, each with their own particulars. We’ve put together this guide to help answer the most common questions that FSC members have about age verification in the states.  

Who should be concerned about age verification laws?

These laws apply to each “commercial entity” publishing content that meets the state’s definition of “harmful to minors.” This includes almost every online adult platform and website, as well as the companies or individuals which operate them. 

If at least 1/3 of the total content on a website meets the state’s definition of “harmful to minors,” the law applies. Each state has its own definition for the term, but they usually follow this format and generally target  nudity and sexually explicit content. The laws do not apply to any other medium (television, in-person performances, etc.).

Note that the laws apply where the online material is viewed, not where it is created, posted, or hosted. A content creator might live and work in Michigan and upload to a platform operated by a company in Delaware. But if a minor views the material in Utah, then Utah’s version of the law can provide the basis for a lawsuit (in Utah state court) against that creator and/or platform.

How is it determined whether 1/3 of a site’s content is harmful to minors?

We don’t know. The laws simply say that if more than 33-1/3% of the content on the website meets the definition of harmful to minors, the law applies. Whether “content” is defined as bytes, images, web pages, video files, or something else entirely is likely to have to be decided by a court if/when a lawsuit is filed against a non-compliant site.

Which states require age verification?

Age verification laws are currently in effect in:

  • Alabama

  • Arkansas

  • Idaho

  • Indiana

  • Kansas

  • Kentucky

  • Louisiana

  • Montana

  • Mississippi

  • Nebraska

  • North Carolina

  • Oklahoma

  • Texas

  • Utah

  • Virginia

■ law in effect ■ law scheduled to take effect

Laws are slated to take effect January 1, 2025 in Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Georgia’s law takes effect July 1, 2025.

You can keep track of these and any updates on our State Age Verification Laws page.

How are sites required to verify users that are over 18?

Each state specifies what age verification methods are “reasonable” under their law. The most common methods required are:

Digitized ID: a state-approved mobile driver’s license (usually available as an app)

Government-issued identification: physical or digital copies of government-issued identification documents such as a driver’s license or passport

Transactional Data: a third-party vendor that verifies a user’s age via their mortgage, educational, employment, or other records

Commercial database: “a commercially available database that is regularly used by businesses or governmental entities for the purpose of age and identity verification”

Any “commercially reasonable” method: presumably, any method that verifies the age of a user, though it’s far too vague a requirement for any business to be sure they are in compliance

What these methods have in common is that every one of them requires a person to share extremely sensitive personal information like photos of their driver’s license or passport, scans of their face, or their mortgage history with a website or vendor that they are unfamiliar with.

State  Government IDDigitized IDTransaction
Data		Database used by
business or
government		Any "commercially
reasonable"
method
Alabama ✔
Arkansas ✔ ✔ ✔ ¹
Florida ✔ ³
Georgia ✔ ✔ ✔ ¹
Idaho ✔ ✔ ✔
Indiana ✔ ✔ ✔
Kansas ✔ ✔
Kentucky ✔
Louisiana ✔ ✔ ✔
Mississippi ✔ ✔ ✔
Montana ✔ ✔ ✔
Nebraska ✔ ✔ ✔
North Carolina ✔ ✔
Oklahoma  ✔ ✔ ✔
South Carolina ✔ ✔ ✔
Tennessee ✔ ²✔
Texas ✔ ✔ ✔
Utah ✔ ✔ ✔
Virginia ✔ ✔

1 - must meet Identity Assurance Level 2 standard
2 - must provide at least one “anonymous” method of verification
3 - liveness detection required and age must be re-verified every 60 minutes

What could happen to sites that violate these laws?

The potential consequences vary by state, but fall into three categories:

Private Lawsuits: State age verification laws generally provide for what’s called a “private right of action.” It means that private individuals can sue websites that violate the law for damages – monetary compensation for harm caused to children who accessed a site with material “harmful to minors” on it.

The price of defending yourself and your company from a lawsuit can quickly reach six figures. For small and medium-sized businesses, a single lawsuit – no matter how frivolous – can be ruinous.

Civil Fines: In some cases, age verification laws are enforced by the state’s Attorney General, who has the power to investigate and take websites to court to impose fines for non-compliance. In Texas and Louisiana, these fines start at $5K-$10K per day.

Criminal Charges: Tennessee’s law makes failing to age verify users a criminal offense (Class C felony). 

Other Government Action: In some states, the Attorney General may seek injunctive and other equitable (non-monetary) relief against a website it decides has violated the law.

State   Private Lawsuits  Government Fines  Criminal Charges  Other Gov't Action 
 Alabama ✔✔
 Arkansas ✔
 Florida ✔✔
 Georgia ✔✔
 Idaho ✔
 Indiana ✔✔
 Kansas ✔✔
 Kentucky ✔
 Louisiana ✔✔
 Mississippi ✔
 Montana ✔
 Nebraska ✔
 North Carolina ✔
 Oklahoma ✔✔
 South Carolina ✔✔
 Tennessee ✔✔
 Texas ✔
 Utah ✔
 Virginia ✔

Has anyone been sued or fined for violating age verification laws in the US?

Yes. The Attorney General of Texas has filed suit against 3 companies as of May 29, 2024.

Additionally, lawyers in Kansas have begun sending demand letters to websites that are accessible in Kansas without age verification. (more)

Where can I find the text of the laws?

What should I do if I’m sued under one of these laws?

You should also immediately contact your insurance company (especially if you have business insurance covering advertising liability). When you do that, you will “tender the defense” in order to avoid losing insurance coverage you may have for want of notice to the insurance company. 

Then, get in touch with us! We have a team of lawyers who’ve been working on this issue for over a year and have resources and strategies to fight it. In general, we will be happy to provide your lawyers (or your insurance company lawyers) with the constitutional and related legal background to bring them up to speed without costing you an unnecessary fortune for their otherwise substantial learning curve.

Does FSC recommend that websites implement age verification?

Everyone’s risk tolerance is different. There are several options for website operators subject to AV mandates.

Ditch the Old Age Gate
For those with low risk tolerance, it might make sense to onboard the AV provider of your choice — VerifyMyAge is the sole vendor that supports FSC – but we cannot say for sure whether their methods of verification will satisfy the states’ requirements in all cases. Others might move toward keeping explicit content behind a paywall, which won’t entirely protect them but may reduce the chance that a minor can access their content.

Divert Traffic from States with AV Laws
Many sites have begun blocking traffic from states that have age-verification laws, though this may not fully immunize you from liability. If you decide that blocking traffic is the right approach for your site, Free Speech Coalition has created a site that you can redirect users from those states to that explains why they’re being blocked and encourages them to contact their legislators. For more information, check out https://www.DefendOnlinePrivacy.com/.

Call Your Lawyer
For those with higher risk tolerance, the fact that no private suits have been filed in any state so far may be enough. FSC always advises consulting with your legal advisors on questions like these.

What is FSC’s stance on age verification laws?

The Free Speech Coalition whole-heartedly supports the goal of protecting young people from material that is age-inappropriate or harmful. However, there are practical, technical, and legal problems with the current proposals being put forward by state legislatures:

  • state and national age verification mandates are easily bypassed by VPNs

  • the laws do not impact sites where children are most likely to come across adult content accidentally, such as social media platforms. In fact, these laws encourage the growth of free and pirated content on social media.

  • transmission of sensitive data, such as digitized copies of government-issued identification, over the internet poses risks of data breaches and exploitation by criminals

  • users who do not wish to share sensitive data will risk increased exposure to illegal content on sites that do not comply with US law

  • the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that requiring age verification to access adult content online is on unconstitutional restriction on free speech and expression

In light of these concerns, the FSC proposes alternative solutions, such as the use of device-level filters and parental controls, which have proven to be effective tools in keeping children safe online.

For an in-depth discussion of these issues, see our post: Ineffective, Unconstitutional, and Dangerous: The Problem with Age Verification Mandates

What is FSC doing to fight bad age verification laws?

Got a question that’s not on our list? Drop us a line!