The owner of PornHub is suing Utah to stop the enforcement of its newest age verification law.
Utah has required adult content companies to verify the age of online users since 2023, after which PornHub blocked access to its site for the entire state.
Then, this year, Utah lawmakers passed a law that expands on that framework, including that these websites must age verify anyone located in Utah, even if they’re using a virtual private network, or VPN, to digitally say they’re elsewhere.
It appears to be the first time a state has attempted to regulate the use of VPNs.
Aylo, which owns PornHub, claims that would require the company to verify the ages or locations of all its users around the globe to comply — thus making Utah’s regulation apply in far more places than it legally should.
There are some other ways to triangulate the rough location of users, however, such as monitoring time zones and advertising data.
Aylo asked a federal district judge to declare Utah’s law illegal and block its enforcement.
The Utah Department of Commerce and Aylo agreed on April 27 that during litigation, the state will delay enforcing the liability provisions until Sept. 3.
