Beginning Friday, September 26, Arizonans seeking access to pornography online will be required to verify they are at least 18 years old under a new law that has already prompted Pornhub to block its services in the state.

The law, signed earlier this year by Gov. Katie Hobbs and authored by Rep. Nick Kupper (R-Surprise), requires publishers of websites where at least one-third of content is “sexual material harmful to minors” to implement digital identification or commercial verification systems. Acceptable methods include uploading a government-issued ID, credit card checks, or biometric scans.

“This law provides one more layer of protection,” Kupper said. “Our children and grandchildren will now have slightly safer childhoods.”

The measure carries significant penalties:

• Parents can sue websites that fail to comply, seeking $10,000 per day in damages.
• Courts may impose fines of up to $250,000 if minors gain access because age checks were not in place.
• Sites that improperly store user data also face penalties.

The law explicitly bans websites from retaining verification data and allows users to sue if information is misused.

Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, said it will block Arizona users rather than comply. In a statement, Aylo said:

“Requiring hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect sensitive personal information is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous. As we saw in Louisiana, traffic dropped 80 percent when we complied with their law; users simply migrated to unregulated sites that don’t verify age and don’t moderate content. In practice, these laws make the internet more dangerous, not safer.”

The Free Speech Coalition, representing the adult entertainment industry, has raised similar objections, arguing the system will drive users to offshore sites and create privacy risks.

Critics, including the ACLU of Arizona, argue the bill’s broad definition of “sexual material harmful to minors” could extend beyond pornography to include sexual education resources, LGBTQ information, or even discussions of domestic violence.

“The definition is subjective and open to interpretation,” said Jeanne Woodbury, an ACLU lobbyist. “It risks chilling free speech by exposing educational and advocacy groups to lawsuits.”

Arizona joins more than 20 states that have enacted similar laws. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas to enforce its age-verification statute, paving the way for states like Arizona to follow suit.

Still, opponents point to widespread workarounds. VPN services allow residents to mask their location and access blocked sites, raising questions about how effective the law will be in practice.

Rep. Lupe Contreras (D-Avondale), who voted against the measure, called it government overreach. “We already have parental controls on devices. This bill creates more risks than it solves,” he said.

Kupper acknowledged the system isn’t foolproof. “Kids are creative,” he said. “There will be some who get past it. But this is about adding enough layers of protection so that the holes don’t all line up.”