New Montana Law Already Seeing Effects Against Adult Content

In what may be called a premature move, the well-known adult content website Pornhub has seemingly blocked content in the state of Montana as of December 28th. The reason is a new law that won't go into effect until January 1st, 2024 in the state.

Senate Bill 544, which passed the state legislature in April and was signed by Governor Greg Gianforte in May, is designed to keep minors in Montana safe from sites on the internet that offer substantial adult material or content.

How Senate Bill 544 Keeps Children Safe on the Internet

The bill, introduced by state Senator Willis Curdy, will require adult content sites to be able to verify a person's age before that person can access the content offered. A partial definition of that content is:

(d) "Material harmful to minors" is defined as all of the following:
(i) any material that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find,
taking the material as a whole and with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to,
the prurient interest

Other aspects of the bill can be found here.

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Our State Isn't The Only One Concerned About Adult Content Sites

Montana isn't the only state that has enacted some sort of indecency law regarding pornographic websites. Utah also passed a similar law earlier this year, and North Carolina is also enacting the law in 2024. Adult sites have also gone black in that state this week in advance of those laws on January 1st, 2024.

While challenges have been presented in Utah, those were struck down in court. They have been appealed to a higher court with no ruling yet. Will a similar lawsuit come about in Montana? Should it? Could it affect other websites that offer adult content, such as OnlyFans?

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