Overview
- Attorney General Dave Yost reviewed the top 20 pornography sites and found only one compliant, issuing violation notices that start a 45-day window before potential legal action.
- Ohio’s law, effective Sept. 30, requires platforms hosting material deemed obscene or harmful to juveniles to verify users are 18 via government ID or comparable transactional records, and click-through attestations no longer suffice.
- Aylo, Pornhub’s parent, says the statute does not apply to its service under the law’s exemption for providers of interactive computer services, a carve-out now central to enforcement debates.
- House Speaker Matt Huffman said legislators could move to close any loophole this fall if large platforms evade the mandate, signaling possible amendments to the statute.
- Bluesky has enabled third-party verification in Ohio using Kids Web Services, while many major adult sites have not; civil-liberties groups warn of privacy and speech risks even as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’s similar law in June.