https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/06/utahs-proposal-to-tax-online-pornography-is-a-civil-liberties-disaster-waiting-to-happen/ [ ] Techdirt. [ ] * Sign In * Register * Preferences Techdirt [ ] * TechDirt * GreenHouse * Free Speech * Error 402 * Ctrl-Alt-Speech * Deals * Jobs * Support Techdirt [podcast-ti] Anthropic's Statement To The 'Department Of War' Reads Like A Hostage Note Written In Business Casual Utah's Proposal To Tax Online Pornography Is A Civil Liberties Disaster Waiting To Happen Anthropic's Statement To The 'Department Of War' Reads Like A Hostage Note Written In Business Casual Utah's Proposal To Tax Online Pornography Is A Civil Liberties Disaster Waiting To Happen [policy] Policy from the bad-ideas-stupider-ideas dept Fri, Mar 6th 2026 12:58pm - Michael McGrady Republican lawmakers in Utah have long been on the cutting edge of shitty policymaking when it comes to regulating the internet. The latest chapter in that legacy is a proposed tax on porn and adult content purchased in the state's digital space. Originally proposed by a pair of Republican lawmakers in the Utah state legislature earlier this year, Senate Bill (SB) 73 would levy a so-called "material harmful to minors" tax at 2 percent on revenues generated by the sale of online porn (it was originally 7 percent). Having been amended and passed through the state Senate with considerable support, SB 73 is on track to clear the hurdles of the House of Representatives and be signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican and staunch anti-pornography activist like the bill's sponsors. This activism from Gov. Cox and the sponsors of porn tax bill--Republican state Sen. Calvin R. Musselman and state Rep. Steve Eliason--could presage a far more corrosive and expansive campaign against civil liberties and key freedom of expression protections that cover sexually-related speech. First off, SB 73 would fund a variety of efforts for Utah's state government. Such efforts benefiting from the funds under the proposal would include enforcement efforts for the state's social media and pornography age verification laws. But the bill goes further, especially after several rounds of being amended in the Senate and the House to include the mention of web traffic sourced from virtual private networks (VPNs) and other proxies. This bill would make it illegal to circumvent content blocks implemented by platforms due to local age verification laws, making it punishable by a bevy of civil penalties. Nonetheless, what goes well beyond extreme is that there is a provision in the bill that would also make it illegal for websites covered by age verification laws (e.g., a porn site) to offer Utah-based users information about using VPNs to get around any content blocks securely. Consider the following language in the current form of Senate Bill 73 regarding VPN "facilitation": "A commercial entity that operates a website that contains a substantial portion of material harmful to minors may not facilitate or encourage the use of a virtual private network, proxy server, or other means to circumvent age verification requirements, including by providing: (a) instructions on how to use a virtual private network or proxy server to access the website; or (b) means for individuals in this state to circumvent geofencing or blocking." This goes far beyond anything I've seen in recent legislative trends in state legislatures controlled by conservative GOP politicians. The bill is similar to a law that is on the books in Alabama which levies a 10 percent levy on all porn websites in that state's digital space, paired with the extra set of legal requirements for adult performers to have notarized consent forms that contradicts existing federal record-keeping laws. Utah's bill doesn't go that far on the concerns of records, but it certainly conjures up civil liberties concerns. Aside from the glaring privacy concerns related to age verification tech, Utah has no right to restrict the communications of a private company to its customers. This goes double for attempts to supersede interstate commerce on a category of products and services that are lawful. And don't forget the dimensions of the porn tax. SB 73's approach is expansive and blatantly violates the First Amendment rights of millions of people, not just those who live within the state boundaries of Utah. The tax is a textbook "sin tax" a jurisdiction would levy on something like alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. But what is different between the purchase of a six-pack of beer versus wanking off alone in your home is that buying that beer from the liquor store isn't necessarily considered expressive in its nature. Producing, selling, and consuming pornography are matters of protected sexual speech so long nothing illegal and criminal occur. Porn taxes like the one proposed in SB 73 explicitly outline "covered entities," to include all entities that sell adult content through clip sales, subscriptions, and fan sites. And with total Utah sales, revenues are then taxed at the 2 percent levy and then paid to the state each year. This might be an incidental bump in the road for many of the larger platforms, like Pornhub or OnlyFans, but this type of policymaking is a vindictive ploy to make operating a small and medium business in this space excruciatingly harder. I do see the Utah bill passing this legislative session, which would lead to a potential legal standoff in a federal courthouse. But I am not holding my breath for anything more beyond that. Michael McGrady covers the tech and legal sides of the online porn business. Filed Under: 1st amendment, free speech, porn tax, sin tax, state laws, utah, vpns 1 CommentLeave a Comment If you liked this post, you may also be interested in... * Palantir Sues Swiss Magazine For Accurately Reporting That The Swiss Government Didn't Want Palantir * The DOJ 'Forgot' To Mention The Law Restricting Searches Of Journalists. The Judge Is Not Happy * Trump FCC Demands 'Pro-America' Media Programming All Summer Long * Administration Says DHS Can Demand Social Media Info From Legal Immigrants And US Citizens * Texas Spent Years Screaming About 'Snowflakes' On Campus. Now It's Building The World's Biggest Safe Space. * Rate this comment as insightful Rate this comment as funny You have rated this comment as insightful You have rated this comment as funny Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam You have flagged this comment The first word has already been claimed The last word has already been claimed Lightbulb icon Laughing icon Flag icon Lightbulb icon Laughing icon Comments on "Utah's Proposal To Tax Online Pornography Is A Civil Liberties Disaster Waiting To Happen" Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment * Filter comments in by Time * Filter comments as Threaded * Filter only comments rated Insightful * Filter only comments rated funny LOL * Filter only comments that are Unread 1 Comment [20220227_PissedO]Stephen T. Stone (profile) says: March 6, 2026 at 2:09 pm That whole "material harmful to minors" bit may be aimed at pornography at the moment, but it also means the law could--and likely will--be turned against even the most anodyne content featuring queer people. The whole point of laws like this, especially with that specific "material harmful to minors" phrasing, is to eventually push queer people out of the public eye by making their mere existence "harmful to minors". Porn is always the canary in the coal mine of free speech. Would-be censors and moral guardians will always try to make defending porn--especially weird porn that involves certain fetishes/ kinks--embarassing so no one will feel compelled to defend it. And once porn is allowed to be censored, well, what's wrong with censoring one more kind of speech that's "harmful to minors"? The slippery slope argument isn't fallacious when the slope actually exists, and porn always sits at the top of the censorship slope. 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