Age verification laws by state

128 bills on age verification in 41 jurisdictions, 14 of them enacted in 2025 and 2026. The laws come first, with what each requires, then the bills that moved most recently.

  • 14 laws enacted in 2025 and 2026, in 12 states. Most: California (2), North Dakota (2), Arizona (1).
  • 128 bills in 41 jurisdictions, 5 of them in Congress. Latest action 26 October 2026.

Updated 2 November 2026LawsRecent billsBy state

Enacted in 2025 and 2026

14 laws, by state. Laws enacted before 2025 are not listed.

Arizona

  • Enacted

    HB 2112: internet pornography; minors; age verification

    Commercial entities that publish or distribute material on internet websites or social media platforms of which more than one-third is sexual material harmful to minors must use reasonable age verification methods to verify individuals are eighteen or older. Entities must not retain or transmit identifying information to any government entity.

California

  • Enacted

    AB 1709: Covered platforms: age restriction: e-Safety Advisory Commission.

    Covered platforms must not permit users under 16 years of age to create or maintain accounts and must implement reasonable measures to prevent such users from accessing accounts. Covered platforms must verify user age pursuant to the Digital Age Assurance Act and delete accounts of users under 16 along with associated personal information.

    Takes effect 1 January 2027

  • Enacted

    AB 1043: Age verification signals: software applications and online services.

    Operating system providers must provide an accessible interface at account setup requiring account holders to indicate a user's birth date or age, and must send developers a digital signal via real-time API identifying the user's age bracket when requested. Developers must request signals when applications are downloaded and launched, and must treat signals as the primary age indicator.

Colorado

  • Enacted

    SB 51: Age Attestation on Computing Devices

Illinois

  • Enacted

    HB 5511: Digital age assurance

    Covered manufacturers must provide an accessible interface by January 1, 2028 requiring account holders to indicate a user's birth date or age, and transmit age bracket data signals to covered operators upon user consent. Covered operators must request age bracket signals, treat them as authoritative for users under 18, and implement default privacy protections for covered minors including restricted visibility, disabled direct messaging with adults, and prohibited addictive feeds without verifiable parental consent.

    Takes effect 1 January 2028

Iowa

  • Enacted

    HF 864: A bill for an act requiring persons who operate certain internet sites, applications, or a segment of an internet site or application that contains material pornographic for minors to perform reasonable age verification.

    Persons who operate internet sites, applications, or segments containing a substantial portion of content pornographic for minors must use reasonable age verification to prevent minors from accessing such content. Reasonable age verification includes digital identification, commercially reasonable methods using transactional data, or methods approved by the attorney general. Those performing age verification must not retain or disseminate identifying information unless required by law or court order, and must use reasonable methods to secure collected data.

    Took effect 1 July 2026

Louisiana

  • Enacted

    HB 134: CONTRACTS: Provides relative to material harmful to minors (EN SEE FISC NOTE SG EX)

North Dakota

  • Enacted

    SB 2380: AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 51-07 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to a commercial entity's liability for publishing or distributing sexual material harmful to a minor; to provide a penalty; and to provide for application.

    Covered manufacturers must take commercially reasonable and technically feasible steps to determine user age and provide digital age signals to websites and applications. Websites and applications with substantial mature content must block access for users under eighteen and display disclaimers. Covered manufacturers must impose the same restrictions on their own services as on third parties.

    Took effect 1 August 2026

  • Enacted

    HB 1561: AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 51-07 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to a commercial entity's liability for publishing or distributing sexual material harmful to a minor; to provide a penalty; and to provide for application.

    A commercial entity that knowingly publishes or distributes sexual material harmful to a minor on a website containing a substantial portion of such material must perform reasonable age verification methods to verify individuals are eighteen years of age or older. The entity or third party performing verification may not retain identifying information after access is granted.

South Carolina

  • Enacted

    H 4591: Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media

    Covered social media platforms must estimate account holder age within fourteen days of first trigger date, treat those under sixteen as children unless eighty percent confident they are over fifteen, obtain verifiable parental consent before creating or maintaining child accounts, set child accounts to maximum privacy by default, prohibit addictive interface features and profile-based paid advertising for children, and terminate child accounts lacking parental consent.

    Takes effect 1 January 2027

South Dakota

  • Enacted

    HB 1053: require age verification by websites containing material that is harmful to minors, and to provide a penalty therefor.

    Covered platforms must implement reasonable age verification to confirm users are at least eighteen years old before accessing material harmful to minors and must prevent minors from accessing such material. Covered platforms and third parties performing age verification may not sell or retain identifying information collected for age verification.

    Took effect 1 July 2025

Utah

  • Enacted

    SB 73: Online Age Verification Amendments

    Commercial entities that publish or distribute material harmful to minors on websites containing a substantial portion of such material must perform reasonable age verification to verify individuals are 18 years or older before granting access. Covered entities must pay a 2% excise tax on covered transactions to the State Tax Commission.

    Took effect 6 May 2026

West Virginia

  • Enacted

    HB 4412: Require certain websites to utilize age verification methods to prevent minors from accessing content

    Commercial entities that knowingly and intentionally publish or distribute sexual material harmful to minors as a substantial portion of their content must verify that individuals are 18 years or older using digital identification or commercially reasonable age verification systems. These entities must not retain identifying information after access is granted and must not publish obscene material or child pornography.

Wyoming

  • Enacted

    HB 43: Age verification for websites with harmful material.

    Covered platforms must perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of all persons accessing material harmful to minors and prevent access by minors to such material. Covered platforms or third parties performing age verification must not retain identifying information after access is granted.

Bills that moved most recently

The 25 open age verification bills with the latest action. The Children's Online Safety Tracker follows all 128.

  • Puerto Rico PC 977: Para establecer la “Ley de Verificación de Edad en Tiendas de Aplicaciones y Plataformas Digitales de Puerto Rico”; imponer a las tiendas virtuales que ofrecen aplicaciones móviles en Puerto Rico la obligación de verificar la edad de sus usuarios al descargar o activar aplicaciones que permitan interacción social, publicación de contenido o comunicación directa; facultar al Negociado de Telecomunicaciones de Puerto a implantar y fiscalizar sus disposiciones; imponer sanciones administrativas y civiles por incumplimiento; y para otros fines relacionados.

    What it would do: The provided text shows only voting results from the Puerto Rico Senate on October 26, 2026, with no bill text included. Unable to summarize bill substance without the actual legislative language.

    Passed chamber

  • New Hampshire HB 293: preventing minors from accessing obscenity on certain electronic devices with internet access.

    What it would do: Requires manufacturers of tablets and smartphones activated in New Hampshire to install filters blocking obscene material, automatically enabled for minors, with password protection. Creates civil liability for manufacturers violating requirements and for anyone disabling filters to allow minor access, plus criminal liability as a class B felony.

    In committee

  • Congress S. 1748: Kids Online Safety Act

    What it would do: Requires covered online platforms to exercise reasonable care in design features to prevent harms to minors including eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation. Mandates safeguards, parental tools, transparency reporting, and prohibits opaque algorithms without user opt-out options.

    Passed committee

  • Congress S. 5090: Digital Age Assurance Act of 2026

    What it would do: Requires operating system providers to collect user age information and provide age bracket signals to developers, application stores, browser providers, and covered internet websites. Prohibits targeted advertising to children and sale of children's personal data to data brokers.

    In committee

  • Virginia SB 796: Artificial Intelligence Companion Chatbots and Minors Act; established, enforcement, civil penalty.

    What it would do: Requires operators of chatbots with 500,000+ monthly active users to implement systems identifying emotional dependence and mental health crises in users, disclose that chatbots are not human, and report covered incidents to the Attorney General within 15 days.

    Passed chamber

  • New Jersey A 5305: Requires age verification to prohibit minors from accessing sexually explicit material online.

    What it would do: Amends obscenity law to require sexually oriented online entities to verify individuals are at least 18 years old before accessing obscene material, with approved verification methods and civil penalties up to $50,000 for violations.

    In committee

  • Ohio SB 175: Establish age verification, parental consent for apps, developers

    What it would do: Requires operating system providers and covered application stores to collect user age at account setup and provide age bracket data signals to application developers. Establishes enforcement by the Ohio Attorney General with civil penalties up to $7,500 per affected child for purposeful violations.

    In committee

  • New York S 7908: Relates to preventing minors from participating in sports wagering

    What it would do: Requires mobile sports wagering operators to prevent minors from participating in sports wagering through age assurance at account registration and allows parents or guardians to register a minor's identifying information on an exclusion list to prevent account creation.

    Passed chamber

  • Illinois SB 3945: Adult content age verification

    What it would do: Requires commercial entities that publish or distribute material harmful to minors comprising more than 33 1/3% of website content to perform reasonable age verification. Violators face civil penalties up to $5,000 per day plus up to $10,000 additional penalty per violation.

    In committee

  • Illinois SB 3977: Digital age assurance

    What it would do: Requires device manufacturers to provide age signals to app developers by January 1, 2028, and prohibits addictive social media platforms from providing algorithmic feeds to minors under 18 without parental consent or sending notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. to minors.

    In committee

  • New York S 8102: Relates to requiring manufacturers of internet-enabled devices to conduct age assurance to determine a user's age category

    What it would do: Requires operating system providers to conduct age assurance at device activation to determine users' age categories and provide this information to app developers via API. App developers must request and use these age signals to comply with applicable laws protecting minors.

    In committee

  • Illinois SB 2082: Adult content age verification

    What it would do: Requires commercial entities that publish or distribute material harmful to minors on websites where such material comprises more than 33 1/3% of content to perform reasonable age verification. Subjects violators to civil penalties up to $5,000 per day plus up to $10,000 additional per violation, deposited into the Cyber Exploitation of Children Fund.

    Introduced

  • Colorado HCR 1002: Require Age Verification for Pornographic Material

    What it would do: Submits to Colorado voters a proposed constitutional amendment requiring the General Assembly to mandate that distributors of pornographic material verify recipients are at least eighteen years old using commercially reasonable methods.

    Introduced

  • Missouri HB 2032: Establishes age verification measures for companion chatbots

    What it would do: Requires AI companion chatbots to verify users' ages using reasonable methods and prohibit minors from accessing them. Prohibits chatbots from soliciting minors to engage in sexual conduct or encouraging suicide or violence, with penalties up to $100,000 per offense.

    Passed committee

  • Kentucky HB 227: AN ACT relating to addictive online platforms.

    What it would do: Requires covered AI companion platforms and social media platforms with specified user bases to obtain parental consent for child accounts, estimate user ages, prohibit addictive features and targeted advertising to children, and provide parental monitoring tools.

    Passed chamber

  • New York S 4609: Establishes the "stop online predators act"

    What it would do: Requires operators of social media platforms to implement age verification, default privacy protections for minors under 18, and parental approval mechanisms for users under 13 and financial transactions. Prohibits dark patterns that undermine these protections.

    In committee

  • South Carolina S 1103: Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media

    What it would do: Requires covered social media platforms with at least one billion dollars in annual advertising revenue to estimate user age, obtain parental consent for child accounts, set default privacy to maximum, prohibit addictive interface features and targeted advertising for children under sixteen, and creates private right of action for violations.

    In committee

  • Illinois HB 5066: Social media age restriction

    What it would do: Requires social media platform operators to take reasonable steps, including implementing age assurance systems, to prevent children 16 and younger from creating or maintaining accounts, with a 180-day compliance period and civil penalties of at least $1,000 per affected child for violations not cured within 30 days.

    In committee

  • Missouri SB 901: Creates provisions relating to age verification on adult websites

    What it would do: Requires commercial entities that publish or distribute material more than one-third of which is sexual material harmful to minors to use reasonable age verification methods to verify users are eighteen or older, with civil penalties up to $10,000 per day of violation plus up to $250,000 if minors accessed the material.

    Passed committee

  • Ohio HB 84: Enact the Innocence Act

    What it would do: Establishes the Innocence Act Enforcement Fund and requires organizations selling obscene or harmful-to-juveniles material online to verify users are eighteen or older using age verification methods, geofencing, and data deletion protocols. Grants the Attorney General exclusive enforcement authority with civil penalties up to one hundred thousand dollars per day of violation.

    Passed chamber

  • South Carolina S 1037: Protecting Children from Chatbots

    What it would do: Requires chatbot operators with 500,000+ monthly active users to provide limited-access mode, verify user age, obtain parental consent for minors accessing restricted features, prohibit prioritizing engagement over user wellbeing, and report incidents of serious harm to the Attorney General.

    In committee

  • New Jersey S 3993: Requires age verification and parent or guardian consent for minor's use of social media platform; prohibits certain messaging between adults and minors on social media platform.

    What it would do: Requires social media companies to verify age and obtain parental consent via credit card (35 cents fee) before New Jersey minors can create accounts, prohibits direct messaging between minors and unlinked adults, and restricts data collection from minor accounts.

    In committee

  • Michigan HB 4429: Communications: internet; digital age assurance act; create. Creates new act.

    What it would do: Creates the Digital Age Assurance Act requiring device manufacturers to determine user age and provide digital age signals to websites and apps, and requiring websites with substantial mature content to block access to minors while providing parental controls.

    In committee

  • California AB 2617: Protecting Kids from Online Gambling Act.

    What it would do: Prohibits operators of internet websites and applications from making online gambling activities and prediction market wagering available to or advertising them to minors under 18, with compliance required by January 1, 2028, and authorizes civil actions by the Attorney General, city attorneys, and minors for violations.

    Passed committee

  • Illinois HB 4140: Digital age assurance act

    What it would do: Requires operating system providers to collect birth dates at account setup and send age bracket signals to app developers, and deems developers who receive signals to have actual knowledge of users' ages. Prohibits sharing signals with third parties and imposes civil penalties of $2,500 to $7,500 per affected child for violations.

    Introduced

Age verification laws, state by state

Questions

Which states have age verification laws?

States that enacted age verification laws in 2025 and 2026: California (2), North Dakota (2), Arizona (1), Colorado (1), Illinois (1), Iowa (1), Louisiana (1), South Carolina (1), South Dakota (1), Utah (1), West Virginia (1) and Wyoming (1). Laws enacted before 2025 are not listed here.

Which states have the most age verification bills?

Illinois (8), New Jersey (8), New York (8), Iowa (7) and West Virginia (7). In all, 128 bills in 41 jurisdictions, the latest action on 26 October 2026.

What do age verification bills cover?

Requirements to verify or estimate users' ages, for adult content sites, platforms or devices. Each enacted law above has a line on what it requires.

Is this legal advice?

No. Which bills count as age verification bills, and the line on what each law requires or each bill would do, are drafted by software and not reviewed by an attorney. Every bill links to the legislature’s own record: read the text before relying on it. The list covers bills from the 2025 and 2026 sessions.

More in Children's Online Safety

Follow age verification bills in every state

The Children's Online Safety Tracker sends the bills that moved and a monthly report you can forward to a client.

Start free trialRead a monthly issue