Age Verification Laws Around the World: Social Media and Adult Websites

Governments around the world are implementing age verification laws to limit minors’ access to adult content and social media platforms. These laws require websites to confirm a user’s age — sometimes through ID checks, third-party verification services, or parental consent systems — before allowing them access to different sites.

Age verification laws are becoming increasingly commonplace, with half of U.S. states adopting some form of age verification requirements for adult content since 2023, and countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia are actively rolling out expansive laws and initiatives aimed at limiting underage access to harmful online content and social media.

Even beyond the bounds of official legislation, tech companies are also making efforts to limit the kinds of content children and teens are able to access online. For instance, during the summer of 2025, YouTube announced it was going to use artificial intelligence to determine how old users are, while Microsoft has indicated that the age verification system they are developing to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act could be implemented in other parts of the world in the future.

To survey the evolving landscape of age verification laws, our team compiled data on current and upcoming age verification laws around the U.S. and around the world. We’ll use this page to track where age verification laws are in effect, how long the laws have been in place, which sites they apply to, and more.

Age verification and social media

Social media platforms have taken on an outsized influence on how people interact with others and the world at large, and not all of that influence is positive. The impacts of social networks on young people are still being explored, though people are starting to recognize potentially harmful effects these sites can have. In fact, an All About Cookies survey found the median age parents think it is okay for teens to have their own social media accounts is 16, indicating that many are worried about the effect social media could have on younger minds.

In some U.S. states, these concerns have been addressed by lawmakers, with legislation being passed into law that places restrictions on how and when young people are allowed to interact with social media. At present, only seven states have active age verification laws relating to social media, though more are going into effect soon.

Connecticut was the first state to sign a social media-specific age restriction into law, doing so in July 2023. Connecticut’s law simply tasks social media platforms with gaining parental consent before allowing minors to open accounts, but does not require strict age verification. A similar law requiring parental consent is also active in Texas. In Connecticut, parental consent must meet federal standards for verifiability as outlined in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), while the Texas law requires that a parent’s age be verified via commercially reasonable methods before they can give consent.

Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Utah, on the other hand, all require age verification via a government-issued identification or other age verification systems with a high degree of reliability for social media account holders. The laws in these states also limit the data social media companies are allowed to collect relating to minors and place restrictions on the content that can be seen by an account held by someone under the age of 18. Utah’s law contains a unique provision, as it requires social media platforms to impose a curfew on users under the age of 18, preventing them from accessing social media sites between the hours of 10:30 PM to 6:30 AM.

Maryland is the final state with an active age verification law, with the Old Line State requiring social media platforms to set high privacy settings for users under the age of 16 by default.

Two more states will see social media age verification laws go into effect in 2026, with the first coming on New Year’s Day in Virginia and the second on July 1 in Nebraska. Virginia’s law will limit minors to just one hour of social media usage per day unless settings are adjusted by a parent, while Nebraska’s law gives parents the right to monitor and control the settings for their child’s account.

Finally, laws have been passed in Florida, Georgia, and New York but are not yet active, with no timeline in place to do so. In both Florida and Georgia, judges have cited free speech concerns and kept laws from going into effect, while New York’s law was passed in 2024, but will not become active until the state Attorney General finalizes specific regulations relating to the law.

States with age verification laws for social media

State	Age Verification Law Status	Age Verification Requirement	Law Since
Alabama	None	N/A	N/A
Alaska	None	N/A	N/A
Arizona	None	N/A	N/A
Arkansas	None	N/A	N/A
California	None	N/A	N/A
Colorado	None	N/A	N/A
Connecticut	Currently in effect	Parental consent	July 1, 2023
Delaware	None	N/A	N/A
District of Columbia	None	N/A	N/A
Florida	Signed into law but not yet in effect	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	Not in effect because of ongoing legal challenges
Georgia	Signed into law but not yet in effect	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	Not in effect because of ongoing legal challenges
Hawaii	None	N/A	N/A
Idaho	None	N/A	N/A
Illinois	None	N/A	N/A
Indiana	None	N/A	N/A
Iowa	None	N/A	N/A
Kansas	None	N/A	N/A
Kentucky	None	N/A	N/A
Louisiana	Currently in effect	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	July 1, 2025
Maine	None	N/A	N/A
Maryland	Currently in effect	Requires high default privacy settings for users under 16 as well as age-appropriate design of social media sites. Does not require true age verification.	October 1, 2024
Massachusetts	None	N/A	N/A
Michigan	None	N/A	N/A
Minnesota	None	N/A	N/A
Mississippi	Currently in effect	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	April 17, 2025
Missouri	None	N/A	N/A
Montana	None	N/A	N/A
Nebraska	Going into effect next year	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	July 1, 2026
Nevada	None	N/A	N/A
New Hampshire	None	N/A	N/A
New Jersey	None	N/A	N/A
New Mexico	None	N/A	N/A
New York	Signed into law but not yet in effect	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	Will go into effect after the Attorney General finalizes regulations
North Carolina	None	N/A	N/A
North Dakota	None	N/A	N/A
Ohio	None	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	None	N/A	N/A
Oregon	None	N/A	N/A
Pennsylvania	None	N/A	N/A
Rhode Island	None	N/A	N/A
South Carolina	None	N/A	N/A
South Dakota	None	N/A	N/A
Tennessee	Currently in effect	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	January 1, 2025
Texas	Currently in effect	Parental consent	September 1, 2024
Utah	Currently in effect	True age verification of users and parental consent for users under 18	October 1, 2024
Vermont	None	N/A	N/A
Virginia	Going into effect next year	True age verification and limits on how much time minors can use social media per day unless parents change settings	January 1, 2026
Washington	None	N/A	N/A
West Virginia	None	N/A	N/A
Wisconsin	None	N/A	N/A
Wyoming	None	N/A	N/A

Social media age verification laws around the world

America is not alone in addressing the potential negative impacts of social media on minors, with several other countries passing or investigating laws aimed at limiting youth access to social media.

Most prominent at the moment is Australia, where amendments to the Online Safety Act 2021 will go into place in December 2025. These amendments are aimed at preventing anyone under the age of 16 from having a social media account, with the responsibility being placed on social media platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent people younger than 16 from creating an account. This law is also noteworthy for how widely it defines what sites count as social media, as it includes sites such as Reddit and Kick alongside more traditional social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat.

A similar law may be on the horizon in the European Union, as a proposal was moved forward in October 2025 that would impose an “EU-wide digital minimum age of 16 for access to social media, video sharing platforms and AI (artificial intelligence) companions, unless authorized by parents, and a minimum age of 13 to access any social media.” This proposal will be voted on in November 2025.

Age verification for adult content in the U.S.

Age verification laws restricting access to adult websites are becoming prevalent in the United States. Since 2023, these kinds of laws have been passed in half the country (25 different states). These laws aim to prevent minors from accessing potentially harmful or damaging sexual and pornographic content, with strict age verification requirements in place for anyone looking to access adult content.

While age verification laws for adult content are active in many different states, the underlying language and requirements laid out in many of these laws are very similar. For the most part, any site where more than one-third of the content can be classified as harmful to minors due to sexual or pornographic content must verify the age of users before allowing them to access the site.

Age verification methods vary, but typically provide a few options such as using:

• A digital or government-issued ID
• Financial records that indicate a user is over 18
• Commercially available third-party verification systems of some kind

Penalties for violating these laws also vary from state to state, but common punishments include civil fines or penalties issued by the state and/or allowing private citizens to seek damages against non-compliant websites via lawsuit.

States with age verification laws for adult websites

State	Age Verification Law Status	Law In Effect Since
Alabama	Currently in effect	October 1, 2024
Alaska	None	N/A
Arizona	Currently in effect	September 26, 2025
Arkansas	Currently in effect	July 31, 2023
California	None	N/A
Colorado	None	N/A
Connecticut	None	N/A
Delaware	None	N/A
District of Columbia	None	N/A
Florida	Currently in effect	January 1, 2025
Georgia	Currently in effect	July 1, 2025
Hawaii	None	N/A
Idaho	Currently in effect	July 1, 2024
Illinois	None	N/A
Indiana	Currently in effect	August 16, 2024
Iowa	None	N/A
Kansas	Currently in effect	July 1, 2024
Kentucky	Currently in effect	July 15, 2024
Louisiana	Currently in effect	January 1, 2023
Maine	None	N/A
Maryland	None	N/A
Massachusetts	None	N/A
Michigan	None	N/A
Minnesota	None	N/A
Mississippi	Currently in effect	July 1, 2023
Missouri	Going into effect soon	November 30, 2025
Montana	Currently in effect	January 1, 2024
Nebraska	Currently in effect	July 18, 2024
Nevada	None	N/A
New Hampshire	None	N/A
New Jersey	None	N/A
New Mexico	None	N/A
New York	None	N/A
North Carolina	Currently in effect	January 1, 2024
North Dakota	Currently in effect	August 1, 2025
Ohio	Currently in effect	September 30, 2025
Oklahoma	Currently in effect	November 1, 2024
Oregon	None	N/A
Pennsylvania	None	N/A
Rhode Island	None	N/A
South Carolina	Currently in effect	January 1, 2025
South Dakota	Currently in effect	July 1, 2025
Tennessee	Currently in effect	January 1, 2025
Texas	Currently in effect	September 1, 2023
Utah	Currently in effect	May 2, 2023
Vermont	None	N/A
Virginia	Currently in effect	July 1, 2023
Washington	None	N/A
West Virginia	None	N/A
Wisconsin	None	N/A
Wyoming	Currently in effect	July 1, 2025

Adult website age verification laws around the world

Similar laws restricting access to adult content can be found in other countries as well.

A law requiring sites that offer pornographic content to use things like digital IDs or biometrics to verify users’ ages went into effect in France in June 2025. This law is noteworthy in that it requires multiple layers of anonymity for users, as age verification providers must not know which sites users visit once they have verified their age, and websites with adult content must not identify who users on their site are.

The Online Safety Act went into effect in the United Kingdom in July 2025, shortly after France’s law became active. This law also requires sites containing adult content to verify the age of users, though this law affords greater variety in age verification methods. Some unique methods of age verification that are allowed under this law include:

• Facial age estimation: Analyzes a submitted photo and determines age
• Email-based age estimation: Analyzes your email inbox to see if it includes adult-specific things like utility bills
• Mobile network operator checks: Checks if age filters are applied to a user’s mobile number

Though it is not an explicit ban on adult content, Australia’s overall approach to verifying the age of internet users will restrict the access minors have to adult content all the same. Starting in December 2025, search engines will be required to verify the age of users in Australia, and users determined to be under the age of 18 will be restricted from accessing adult sexual material, extreme violence, and more via searches.

The rise of age verification laws over time

Age verification laws have seen a swift rise in the United States, as they were not implemented in any states just a few short years ago, but are now on the books and in effect in half the country. We took data on the years when different age verification laws went into effect to show how the prevalence of these laws has changed over time.

The first age verification laws for both adult content and social media went into effect in 2023. Louisiana was the first of six states to implement age verification for adult content, as their law became active on January 1, 2023, while Connecticut was the only state to put a social media-related law into effect that year. Nine more states implemented laws focused on adult content in 2024, while three more states got social media laws on the books. Age verification laws for adult content went into effect for a further 10 states in 2025, while three more laws aimed at social media platforms also became active in 2025.

Methods of age verification

There are a number of different ways that users can verify their age to access age-restricted content. The most common ones include:

• Parental consent (mostly for social media)
• Submitting digital identification cards
• Submitting government-issued identification cards
• Using commercially available third-party age verification systems or apps
• Analyzing transactional data
• Using any available age verification system that is regularly used by a government agency or business to verify ages

Parental consent takes many forms, with different states accepting different methods. What is most important is that the consent needs to be “verifiable” as coming from a parent or guardian. This can mean that a parent will need to verify their own age using things like government-issued IDs, financial records, or age verification systems and apps. Other methods used in some states include parents calling social media providers to prove their age and identity, using a verifiable email system to give consent, or even sending proof of age and consent via the mail.

For third-party age verification systems and apps, some examples also utilize artificial intelligence to do things like analyze a freshly taken selfie and determine a user’s age, or comb through an email inbox to find things like utility or credit card bills for accounts that can only be opened by people over the age of 18, both of which are actively in use in the UK.

It is worth noting here that in many of these laws, companies are expressly prohibited from retaining identifying information after verifying a user’s age, often with penalties for doing so that are similar to those laid out for failure to properly verify a user’s age. These laws prohibiting the retention of identifying information and how stringently websites adhere to them are fundamental, as these age verification laws and the data generated to comply with them represent a potential treasure trove of personal information that hackers and identity thieves are already pursuing and successfully obtaining in some cases.

How to get around age verification

While age verification laws are meant to protect kids and reduce their exposure to potentially harmful content online, some critics argue that these laws infringe on free speech and privacy, while others are concerned about requiring users to submit sensitive personal data that could later be leaked or stolen. Additionally, some adult sites have chosen to simply block access to all users in states where these laws are in effect.

For users in states where age verification laws exist, there are ways to maintain access to age-restricted sites without submitting personal information. Chief among those options are virtual private networks (VPNs), which are tools that help create private, secure internet connections.

Most importantly for anyone looking to get around age verification, VPNs also allow users to change their internet protocol (IP) address, which tells websites where a user is located when visiting the page. Users are able to bypass age verification laws and access restricted content by using a VPN to change their IP address to a different state or country where no such laws exist.

How to privately navigate age verification online

• Keep your private information private: All About Cookies has compiled a step-by-step guide for bypassing age verification for users who want to access restricted content in a state or country where age verification is required, but they don’t want to submit their personal information.
• Find the right VPN for your needs: Using one of the best VPNs to bypass age verification laws is a reliable way to get around age verification requirements while browsing the internet.