7.5 million Arizonans are now facing age-verification checks for adult content – and non-compliant websites could be hit with fines of $250,000 for every violation

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The law came into effect on September 26

Flags of Arizona and US flying in front of grey storm clouds
(Image credit: Lokibaho / Getty Images)

Age verification laws have today – September 26, 2025 – come into effect in Arizona.

You now have to provide ID to view adult content online. The bill requires publishers of content deemed "harmful to minors" to set up age verification processes to ensure only over-18s are accessing its content.

Implement age verification or face fines

House Bill 2112 states "reasonable age verification methods" must be employed by commercial entities if more than one-third of their content can be seen as "harmful to minors."

The bill says an "individual's identifying information" mustn't be transmitted – either directly or indirectly – to any "federal, state, or local government entity." Government-issued ID or "a commercially reasonable method" may be used to verify age, but the age-verification service must not "retain any identifying information of the individual."

News-gathering organisations are exempt from the rules. In the UK, there were reports of news channels being affected by age-verification requests and having content incorrectly censored.

Fines can be handed out to companies who don't comply with the bill, and parents of minors can bring legal cases against offending organizations. The bill says parents of minors who access harmful material have a "right of action against the offending entity."

This also applies to anyone whose information is retained or transmitted as a result of "an entity's violation" of the bill.

$10,000 per-day penalties can be imposed on sites that violate age verification requirements. Violating identifiable information retention and transmission rules can see penalties of $10,000 per instance.

If a minor accesses harmful content as a result of these violations, penalties of up to $250,000 can be given.

The bill was proposed by Republican representative Nick Kupper and first read on January 21, 2025. On May 13, it was signed into law by Arizona's Democrat governor, Katie Hobbs.

Woman sitting on sofa in living room at home holding credit card and scanning face id on a smart phone

(Image credit: Jajah-sireenut / Getty Images)

Personal data at risk

This bill, and others like it, have left many asking if age verification companies can be trusted with our data. There are various cybersecurity risks posed by age verification checks and experts have said the laws are "a disaster waiting to happen."

Data breaches, identity theft, fraud, and realistic phishing scams could all occur once our data is handed over.

In a statement provided to FOX 10 Phoenix, adult-entertainment distributor, Aylo, said it has "supported age verification of users for years." However, it added that any law "must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults."

"Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy," it said.

According to the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its Age Verification Bill Tracker, the number of US states with age verification laws in effect now stands at 23.

Two more states have passed laws which are not yet effective. Ohio's laws will come into effect on September 30, 2025 and Missouri's on November 30, 2025.

The FSC has said it "whole-heartedly supports the goal of protecting young people from material that is age-inappropriate or harmful." However, it cited "practical, technical, and legal problems with the current proposals being put forward by state legislatures."

These included the fact users may not be comfortable with sharing personal data, the risk of data breaches, impact on free speech and expression, and the use of VPNs in bypassing age checks.

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George Phillips
George Phillips
Staff Writer

George is a Staff Writer at Tom's Guide, covering VPN, privacy, and cybersecurity news. He is especially interested in digital rights and censorship, and its interplay with politics. Outside of work, George is passionate about music, Star Wars, and Karate.

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