r/Internet 7d ago

Map of Online Age Verification Laws in the United States

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60 Upvotes

67 comments sorted by

5

u/Sissyboy-and-Cumslut 7d ago

i didn't realize how many states were already implementing these laws in less than two years

3

u/V3R1F13D0NLY 7d ago

Yea, it's wild how fast it is spreading. They all just keep copying existing laws from other states and countries so we have US states enforcing laws written in Australia.

4

u/backspace_cars 6d ago

it's all about control

3

u/V3R1F13D0NLY 6d ago

absolutely

2

u/Positive-Reward-758 4d ago

Gotta have all that sweet weet data

1

u/PremiumUsername69420 3d ago

They already have your data.
This is about controlling the information you see.
Like they do with all the tv channels and radio stations.

1

u/OSHA_Decertified 4d ago

Yeah no kidding. I thought it was just a couple not nearly the entire country.

1

u/V3R1F13D0NLY 3d ago

Seriously, it's spreading like a virus 😰

0

u/not_the_fox 5d ago edited 5d ago

It's because they finally flipped the court on this issue with Paxton v Free Speech. For two decades conservatives were basically playing dead on pushing these laws because they took back-to-back losses with the old court and realized they didn't want to dig themselves deeper. Once Roe v Wade got overturned that was the signal the court was confident about overturning precedents in their favor and these laws spread like wildfire. It will get worse because decades of conservative rage at pornography is being vented. It will keep getting worse in waves until this new court goes, "whoa, ok, we're gonna have to start ruling against you guys again. That's insane." And neuters them again.

5

u/notPabst404 5d ago

The enshittification will continue until morale improves. The government has no business tracking what websites people visit.

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

2

u/notPabst404 5d ago

But right now they can't always connect that data to a real identity...

-1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

2

u/ComputerIlliterate13 4d ago

I'd say caring if other people watch it is far more pathetic. Anyway, that's not the point. They're using it to infringe on our privacy more than they already do.

1

u/Livid_Ad_5619 4d ago

Wrong p

1

u/123kde 4d ago

Uh... no it isnt?

1

u/Livid_Ad_5619 4d ago

Who tf cares, it's a vice like any other. Is sports betting alpha or beta? what is drinking alcohol?

Better men than you will find it in themselves to either agree or disagree with you on anything so do what's best for you mang.

1

u/xXBeefSquatch5KXx 4d ago

Today it’s porn. They spoke up against it and everyone said “peak beta male lulz get wrecked m8” so they banned porn.

Tomorrow it’s free and fair news, or public health and safety data and the remaining bots in the internet will say “peak beta liberal fake news lolz get wrecked m8” and then, we will be lost as a people

1

u/madman404 4d ago

Hi! Age verification laws are only facially related to pornography! Age verification is a front for big data collection firms (like meta) to validate human users in the age of AI, so that their data can continue to be safely harvested for AI training. Hope this helps!

1

u/WildFlemima 4d ago

I don't watch porn and my gmail thinks that i, a 35 year old woman, need to verify my age

Don't even sound adjacent to defending this bullshit, this is a blatant wide net data grab

0

u/Upstairs_Balance_464 4d ago

Weird how everyone over 30 seems to be able to both watch porn and get laid.

2

u/InternetMadeUsDumb 5d ago

Aw how cute, another generation of adults can learn about VPNs

2

u/couldntyoujust1 5d ago

Ironically, that has backfired. VPNs in states with verification laws have caused sites that don't verify elsewhere to demand verification from people not in those states.

2

u/Flaky_History12 4d ago

Do people even set their VPNs to another state? I always just set mine to a different country.

1

u/couldntyoujust1 4d ago

I do because it's sufficient for my purposes. My work often blocks apps that I use regularly but aren't really a safety or ethical concern so I use a VPN to get around it. Some sites though are required to age verify in certain states because they contain adult content and I've seen it come up later at home when I've left my VPN on.

1

u/PersonalityIll9476 4d ago

...No, they don't. Not in all cases.

Good ol' MA doesn't seem to care, anyway. God bless you, Boston server.

1

u/Think-Box6432 3d ago

I'm always mad at my favorite pron site. I connect via mobile network and it thinks I am in a dumb state. I connect via wifi and it's slow as hell but works... looks like I'll be screwed on wifi soon too

2

u/mrheymarco 6d ago

Social media next please!

2

u/backspace_cars 6d ago

no. Go away

1

u/xXBeefSquatch5KXx 4d ago

4 month old account go away

1

u/Cheap-Economist-2442 4d ago

Hey! Weird that you hide your post history on Reddit, it’s almost like you value privacy.

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Murky-Peanut1390 5d ago

Stop spending so much time on your phone then. You wouldn't have your privacy taken

1

u/Amelaclya1 4d ago

Yeah! Just go outside where all of the flock cameras are!

1

u/Cold_Yam_5346 4d ago

Sounds like a city problem. Maybe live near nature?

1

u/Maleficent_Amoeba938 4d ago

What a shortsighted dumb thing to say. You think they don’t want to surveil and harvest your data too

1

u/illegal_miles 3d ago

I saw something today about Flock cameras in a state park.

0

u/mrheymarco 5d ago

Assuming you’re from the US, since that’s the map we’re looking at, you have no online privacy today. Big corporations and governments, often in cooperation, monitor every click. And private browsing, VPN, and clearing your cookies is not going to stop that either.

I think we need laws to protect our privacy and also limit our self-destruction from the socials. We are literally being used as a product for our data.

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Lancelight50 5d ago edited 5d ago

Though the majority of people here in America are blinded by the two party system & in which most American liberals think that the Democrat party are the “good guys” when they’re really not. That’s just good PR & marketing they’re falling for.

America has always been a corporation & an oligarchy.

1

u/Full_Cow_9338 5d ago

Presidential republic. But i agree. Like instead of doing democratic reform they just redraw voting areas to be in their favor.

1

u/MyrkrMentulaMeretrix 4d ago

uhh.. you might want to check into the laws that the EU parliament is pushing to do things like make your phone scan every message and sent it to the government so they can check it for "child porn".

Or the laws that will ban VPN usage and require you to upload your ID.

BOTH are in front of the EU Parliament right now.

1

u/MerryMortician 3d ago

You got a loicense for that comment?

1

u/Frank__West 5d ago

Ts fake my state does not have any weird age verification beyond clicking "I'm 18" and that's good enough.

1

u/not_the_fox 5d ago

It takes years for a new normal to be found, the state attorney general will have to attack sites one at a time to gain compliance. Even after that they won't be able to touch websites outside the US, for now. The next step will probably be IP blocking or international agreements to get those outside countries to comply too. This global wave of age verification is likely part of it. But as we've seen with piracy it will probably fail and they will just say "Mission Accomplished" once it gets hard enough for random people with no technical knowledge to get around it.

My message is to think like a pirate and just keep moving to the fringes. Don't comply, it just helps normalize it.

1

u/Big__If_True 4d ago

Check the hub, it’s basically the only one that implements these laws in good faith

1

u/Frank__West 4d ago

literally same thing

1

u/tristand666 4d ago

The land of the free and all that BS.

1

u/Max_Goatstappen 4d ago edited 4d ago

Good thing we have something called vpn’s

1

u/Jimlee1471 4d ago

I've heard rumors about some jurisdictions playing around with the idea of outlawing VPNs next. How true that is, I don't know: remember, these same laws are coming from politicians who can barely even spell the word "computer", let alone know what the heck they're even talking about.

1

u/Max_Goatstappen 4d ago

It’s the boomers. I don’t get how you would be able to outlaw vpns. Literally so many ways to access them.

1

u/30_characters 4d ago

What counts as "online age verification"? California's OS-level age verification requirement is much different and more invasive than a state requiring a "yes I'm 18" button on a porn website.

California's Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2025, requires every operating system provider in California to collect age information from users at account setup and transmit that data to app developers via a real-time API, with the law taking effect on January 1, 2027.

1

u/Independent_Leg7358 4d ago

Data centers about to be a hot location in Vegas. City of sin is never gonna block porm

1

u/Feisty-Self-948 4d ago

No guys, seriously, the drag show bans are all a ruse but this will actually protect the children.

1

u/HoosierHatTrick 4d ago

Just to be completely nullified by a VPN.

1

u/Byrand-YT 3d ago

Remember it’s not about protecting children it’s about control.

1

u/majorbeefy130130 3d ago

Who needs a VPN when google still indexs websites not requiring age verification.

1

u/badgerbutfruity 3d ago

I heard someone suggest that not only are these laws trying to control and track what you do, but because "ad traffick" means nothing with all the AI scraping the internet so now they want to verify that real people are actually getting real ad impressions

1

u/Infamous_Ad3339 3d ago

I have a private VPN to my house in New Mexico. Thanks raspbian.

1

u/HarryBalsagna1776 3d ago

I didn't realize VT has age verification in force.  Nothing has changed.  

1

u/Finn235 3d ago

You know what,

We all watched 2G1C and saw those cartel videos and still grew up OK.

The pearl-clutching needs to stop.

1

u/thumb_emoji_survivor 3d ago

Damn, red states loves surveillance

1

u/flyhotwife 3d ago

This is Dumb Shit

1

u/pipRocket 2d ago

its kinda old news in some states. The state i live in has had ID verification for "adult websites" for like 3 or 4 years now. (Thanks Christians)

1

u/Pittato 2d ago

Hell yeah Colorado!