A Republican state senator in Utah has introduced a bill to impose a 7 percent tax on pornography sites operating in the state, aiming to fund mental health services for teenagers. The proposal comes amid a wave of age-verification laws across the US, with critics arguing the tax violates the First Amendment. If enacted, the measure would take effect in May and include an annual fee for adult sites.
Utah state senator Calvin Musselman, a Republican, introduced legislation this week that would levy a 7 percent tax on total receipts from sales, distributions, memberships, subscriptions, performances, and content deemed harmful to minors if produced, sold, filmed, generated, or based in Utah. Adult sites would also pay a $500 annual fee to the State Tax Commission. The revenue would support mental health initiatives for teens through the Department of Health and Human Services, with the bill potentially effective in May if passed.
This follows Alabama's September imposition of a 10 percent porn tax on adult entertainment companies, the first in the nation, after enacting age-verification requirements that mandate ID uploads for users. Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a 10 percent consumer tax on subscriptions and purchases from online adult platforms, on top of existing 6 percent sales taxes. In 2019, Arizona's Republican senator Gail Griffin proposed taxing adult content to fund the border wall. Currently, 25 states have some form of age verification, and 16, including Utah, Alabama, and Pennsylvania, have declared pornography a public health crisis.
Utah's history includes a 2016 resolution signed by Governor Gary Herbert, who tweeted: “We realize this is a bold assertion not everyone will agree on, but it’s the full-fledged truth.” The state created a “porn czar” position in 2001 to handle obscenity complaints, which ended in 2017.
Critics, including Evelyn Douek, an associate professor at Stanford Law School, call the tax “blatantly unconstitutional,” arguing it targets protected speech disliked by legislators, contrary to First Amendment protections affirmed by the Supreme Court last year. Mike Stabile, director of public policy at the Free Speech Coalition, warns it limits speech to those who can afford it, drawing parallels to hypothetically taxing misinformation or disliked media.
Pornhub's Alex Kekesi highlighted privacy concerns with age verification, noting the site's blocks in 23 states. A 2022 Common Sense Media report found 73 percent of teens aged 13-17 have viewed adult content online, often via social media. Alabama's tax sponsor, Representative Ben Robbins, claimed such content drives mental health issues, though experts lack consensus on causation.
OnlyFans states it complies with local taxes, leaving creators to manage their own affairs.