Judge blocks requirement for porn sites to verify age for all ‘actually located’ in Utah

Earlier this year, Utah lawmakers amended an age verification law making it apply to users physically located in Utah regardless of where their computer thought they were.(CN) — Siding with the owner of YouPorn, a federal judge blocked on Thursday a Utah law requiring providers of adult content to verify the age of any website visitor “actually located” in the Beehive State, regardless of masking technology meant to trick admins into thinking they’re somewhere else.“The harm of a constitutional violation is greater than Utah’s interest in enforcing a statutory provision that likely is unconstitutional,” U.S. District Judge David Barlow wrote in a 40-page opinion.In 2023, Utah lawmakers started requiring adult content providers to verify the age of website visitors. To comply, Aylo blocked its adult content platforms Pornhub, YouPorn and RedTube from users with Utah-based Internet Protocol addresses.Earlier this year, Utah lawmakers amended the law to require age verification for all users “actually located” in the Beehive State.Aylo Freesites and Aylo Group sued the Utah Division of Consumer Protection and the state Department of Commerce on April 22, claiming the law essentially regulated porn access around the world, asking too much of the content providers.Although Aylo believes 86% of its users live outside the U.S., the company has no easy way to verify each person’s physical location, given technology that can mimic out-of-state addresses. To comply with Utah law, Aylo argued it would have to verify every user’s age regardless of location.Citing the interstate commerce clause and the dormant foreign commerce clause, Aylo asked the court for a preliminary injunction and presented oral argument in May.Although Utah’s attorneys ultimately agreed it’s nearly impossible to know where a person is actually accessing the Internet from, the government argued the law only requires a reasonable effort — not perfection — when it comes to keeping minors off porn sites.In addition to deploying technology that can detect location-masking programs, state attorneys suggested Aylo cross-reference users’ time zone, language settings, currency preferences and historical account activity to make an educated guess about user locations.“This would narrow a user’s likely possible location because, for example, a Utah-based user would be unlikely to have their time zone set to India, browser language set to Hindi, and their transaction currency set to rupees,” Barlow wrote.But the state’s location provision didn’t include the word “reasonable,” leading Aylo to reasonably believe it could face liability for any person who accessed adult content in Utah without being age-verified.“A holistic reading of the provisions confirms that reasonableness does not apply to the statute’s geolocation requirements,” the Donald Trump appointee wrote. “In short, Aylo is correct that the statute, as amended, now essentially imposes strict liability for entities like it when it comes to determining the location of its websites’ users.”Aylo is represented by attorney Daniel Schwei, who practices with Jenner & Block in D.C., and did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.Representatives for the Utah Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads