U.S. States Implement Diverse Age Verification Laws to Protect Minors Online
In the last four years, 27 U.S. states have introduced age verification (AV) laws aimed at protecting minors from online content deemed 'harmful to minors.' These laws mandate that websites containing such material verify the age of users before granting access. However, these state-level regulations are highly inconsistent, varying significantly in their definitions of 'harmful to minors' content, acceptable thresholds, compliance requirements, and penalties for noncompliance. This patchwork of laws creates a complex legal landscape, particularly for artists and website owners whose content might include themes of nudity, sexuality, queerness, or human health. The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has issued an advisory for artists, highlighting concerns that these vague and aggressive state laws could lead to self-censorship and vulnerability to civil or criminal penalties, regardless of where a website is hosted. The NCAC emphasizes that artists with websites could be responsible for complyin... 
