Iowa joins wave of states forcing porn sites to verify users’ ages

Beginning July 1, Iowans must verify they are adults to access porn websites.

Iowa will require porn websites to verify users are at least 18 under a new law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds. 

The Hawkeye State joins at least 25 other states, including Kansas and Nebraska, in requiring age verification for adult content in an effort to prevent minors from accessing it. 

House File 864 is modeled after a Texas age verification law the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in a 6-3 decision in June. The measure will apply to websites or apps if at least one-third of their content is pornographic. 

Beginning July 1, the law will require the websites to verify a user’s age using government-issued identification, financial documents or other documents that are “reliable proxies for age.” Age verification may also be performed by third parties or through any “commercially reasonable and reliable method.” 

The law states websites and third parties “shall not retain, sell, lease or otherwise disseminate any identifying information of an individual subject to reasonable age verification unless retention or dissemination of the identifying information is required by law or a court order.” 

It also requires third parties and websites to use “reasonable methods given the person’s scope of business to secure all data collected and transmitted” during the age verification process.  

Under the new law, Iowa’s attorney general can sue companies in violation of the law. Violators could face fines up to $1,000 for each time an individual accesses a site in violation of the law. Civil penalties for providers are capped at $10,000 per day.

Iowa Senate lawmakers unanimously approved the measure while the House advanced it 82-2.

Rapid Response Politics Reporter Maya Marchel Hoff can be reached at mmarchelHoff@usatodayco.com. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @mmarchelhoff.