Adult content
In effect
- Bill / statute
- SB 287 (2023); SB 73 (2026)
- Status
- Active law in effect
- Effective
- May 3, 2023 (approx.)
- Intrusiveness
- Severe -- Criminal penalties, VPN targeting, or repeated re-checks with long data retention.
SB 287 (2023) -- adult-content age verification; effective May 2023; Utah enforces strictly. SB 73 (2026, the Online Age Verification Amendments), signed by Gov. Cox March 19, 2026, added a 2% tax on online adult-content revenue (effective May 6, 2026) and made Utah the first state to target VPNs used to bypass age gates: a user is treated as accessing from Utah even via VPN or proxy, and covered sites may not facilitate or encourage VPN use. After Aylo (Pornhub's parent) sued, Utah agreed on April 27, 2026 to delay enforcement of the VPN/location-liability provisions until Sept 3, 2026; the rest of SB 73 took effect May 6, 2026.
Source: le.utah.gov
Social media
Court hold
- Bill / statute
- SB 194 / HB 464 (2024)
- Status
- Enacted, blocked by court
- Intrusiveness
- High -- Broad reach: low or no content threshold, device/OS-level, or bundled with other verification.
The Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act (SB 194 and HB 464, 2024) requires social-media services to verify user ages and apply parental controls to minor accounts, and gives parents a private right of action -- minimum $10,000 per adverse mental health outcome -- with an affirmative defence if the platform obtained parental consent, removed autoplay and infinite scroll, served content chronologically and capped the minor's time on the service. Gov. Cox signed both on 2024-03-13; HB 464 took effect 2024-05-01 and SB 194 was scheduled for 2024-10-01. NetChoice and a group of Utah users sued on 2024-05-03, and Chief Judge Robert J. Shelby (D. Utah) preliminarily enjoined SB 194 on 2024-09-10, finding NetChoice substantially likely to succeed on its First Amendment claim. Utah appealed to the TENTH CIRCUIT on 2024-10-11; no Tenth Circuit decision is established as of 2026-07-26. CORRECTION TO THE EARLIER RECORD: the 2024 injunction did not run against Utah's 2023 Social Media Regulation Act (SB 152 / HB 311). That Act was never enjoined and never took effect -- NetChoice sued in Dec 2023, SB 89 moved its effective date from Mar 1 to Oct 1, 2024, and HB 464 then repealed it outright before any ruling. Utah lost once in court and retreated once; the previous note read as two losses. The case now appears as NetChoice v. Brown following the change of Attorney General, and under NetChoice v. Reyes in anything written before that.
Timeline
- Mar 1, 2023Social Media Regulation Act (SB 152 / HB 311) enacted; never took effect
- Mar 13, 2024SB 194 and HB 464 signed, repealing and replacing the 2023 Act
- May 3, 2024NetChoice and Utah users file suit (D. Utah)
- Sep 10, 2024SB 194 preliminarily enjoined (Chief Judge Shelby) before its Oct 1 effective date
- Oct 1, 2024Court hold
- Oct 11, 2024Utah appeals to the Tenth Circuit; no decision established as of 2026-07-26
Source: techpolicy.press
App store
Scheduled
- Bill / statute
- SB 142 (2025), amended by HB 498 (2026)
- Status
- Passed, not yet in effect
- Effective
- May 7, 2027
- Intrusiveness
- High -- Broad reach: low or no content threshold, device/OS-level, or bundled with other verification.
Utah's App Store Accountability Act (SB 142, 2025) was the first such law in the country. HB 498 (2026) postponed its effective date from May 6, 2026 to May 7, 2027 and removed the regulatory enforcement mechanism, which led the industry challenge to be withdrawn. App stores must verify age categories and obtain verifiable parental consent for minors.
Timeline
- May 7, 2025Scheduled
- May 7, 2027In effect
Source: le.utah.gov
