Is Porn Illegal in Utah? Utah Laws on Porn

Contrary to the popular narrative, there is no blanket ban on pornography in the state of Utah. However, the deeply conservative political and cultural context of Utah has made it take an aggressive stance against online pornography. 

Utah has stringent legislative measures such as age verification laws, default filters on digital devices, and compounding of offenses to regulate access to porn. 

These laws and zealous enforcement often build a narrative and raise questions, such as is porn illegal in Utah? And can you watch porn in Utah?

Read on to find out what are the regulations surrounding porn consumption in Utah and how you can legally watch pornographic content in Utah. 

Why Porn is Banned in Utah? 

Porn as a whole is not banned in Utah. But the stringent laws that restrict distribution and access to porn often make people raise questions such as, is porn illegal in Utah? And can you watch porn in Utah?

Age Verification Laws 

Utah requires commercial entities to verify the age of the visitors either with digital ID cards or third-party verification services. 

The age verification laws also empower private citizens to directly sue commercial entities for damages if they do not comply. This workaround removes the state as the enforcing entity and avoids infringement of First Amendment rights.

Utah law also prohibits the distribution of revenge porn. Here, the victim should have a reasonable expectation of privacy and experience distress as a result of non-consensual distribution.

Is Porn Illegal in Utah? 

In order to answer the question is porn illegal in Utah, we should look at the history of legislative measures taken about the porn laws in Utah –

1. In 2016, Utah passed a  public health resolution that declared internet porn as a “public health crisis.”
2. Age-verification laws (2023’s SB287) of the state require mandatory age verification by adult websites to ensure that the visitors are above 18 years of age. 
3. In 2024-25, Utah made it mandatory for phones and tablets sold in the state to have pre-enabled filters to block pornographic content.  While adults can disable these filters, it is illegal for a non-parent to help a child turn the porn filters off on the devices. 

These stringent laws often raise questions such as is porn illegal in Utah? And can you watch porn in Utah? 

The legislators maintain that porn laws in Utah aim to protect minors and do not infringe on the first amendment right to consume consensual and legal pornography. So, viewing and distribution of porn that depicts consenting adults is not illegal. 

On the other hand, possession, viewing, or distribution of child pornography or exposing minors to pornography is considered illegal in Utah. 

Is it legal to use a VPN to watch porn in Utah? 

Utah law recognises Virtual Private Network (VPN) as tools for privacy protection and security. So it generally allows the use of VPN. 

The users can use VPN to bypass age verification filters to access legal adult content without attracting penalties under porn laws in Utah. So, you can watch porn in Utah using a VPN. 

However, the pornographic content providers still remain liable for non-compliance with age verification laws. This creates a practical difficulty in enforcing age verifications for online content that is globally available. 

Laws Around Producing Porn in Utah 

Is porn illegal in Utah? No, but Utah has Legislative restrictions around the production and distribution of pornographic content. 

Porn production in itself is not an offense if the participants are of legal age (i,e, 18+). Producing adult content at home or in a private studio is also considered legal. 

However, local governments can impose zoning and restrictions on “sexually oriented businesses.” For instance, adult bookstores and strip clubs can be prohibited from operating within a certain radius of churches, parks, residential areas, and schools.

Older pornographic laws such as Utah Code 76-10-1222–1224 (Part 12) require the distributors to register with the state and criminalize the unlicensed distribution of pornographic films. 

Also Read: Countries Where Porn is Illegal

Child Pornography Laws in Utah – 200

Utah officially refers to child pornography laws as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy. The key conditions of this law are – 

1. The CSAM laws broadly define child pornography as any visual content that depicts sexually explicit conduct involving an individual under 18 years of age. 
2. The comprehensive laws of Utah cover not only traditional forms of pornography, such as images and videos but also cover computer-generated images, such as deepfakes or AI-generated content. 
3. CSAM law further specifies that any material created, manufactured, modified, or adapted to depict an identifiable minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct is also considered child pornography.
4. It is illegal to distribute, sell, produce, possess, or even view child pornography in any form in Utah. It criminalizes all these activities, including accidental navigation to websites with child porn, as sexual exploitation of a minor. 

1. Definition of Sexually Explicit Conduct

Utah law defines the term “sexually explicit conduct” itself to cover a wide range of activities compared to the obscenity laws  –

1. sexual intercourse – genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, between the same or opposite sexes.
2. Masturbation
3. Bestiality
4. Sadistic or masochistic activities
5. Lascivious exhibition of genitals or the female breast
6. visual depiction of nudity or partial nudity for the purpose of causing sexual arousal
7. fondling or touching of these areas
8. explicit representation of defecation or urination

2. Enforcement and Penalties 

Enforcement of Child Pornography laws in Utah is among the most severe. 

Possession of child pornography is a second-degree felony punishable with a prison term of 1 to 15 years, along with a fine of up to $10,000. Producing child pornography is considered a first-degree felony. 

Utah follows a compounding penalty structure. So, each minor depicted in an article of child pornography is considered a separate offense. Suppose the same minor is depicted in different articles of pornography. In that case, each article is also charged as a separate offense. 

So, under Utah child pornography laws, a single act of possession will result in multiple felonies with significant jail time and fines. 

3. Exceptions and Legal Defense 

Utah law provides scope for legal defense in cases where an individual receives child pornography without soliciting. So, any pornographic material received via an unsolicited link or sent by a minor to themselves is not charged. 

The law also makes an exception for cases where the accused is no more than 2 years older than the minor victim in the material. Individuals are also strongly advised to immediately notify the authorities if they accidentally view pornography depicting minors. 

How to Legally Access Adult Content in Utah 

So far, we have answered two crucial questions – Is porn illegal in Utah? And can you watch porn in Utah? Now, let’s understand how to legally access pornographic content in Utah. 

1. Ensure that you are not a minor – only individuals above 18 years of age can watch porn in Utah. 
2. Disable the content filter if you are watching porn on a phone or tablet bought after 2021. Such devices contain an auto-block porn filter mandated by law.
3. Ensure that the pornographic content does not fall under prohibited categories such as child pornography, bestiality, or revenge porn. These are considered illegal, irrespective of the method of access. 
4. Use digital identification or a third-party age verification service on the licensed adult website.
5. You can also use Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access adult content websites that may be blocked due to age verification laws. 

How BlockP can help get rid of Porn Addiction?

BlockP is the best adult content blocker for recovery from porn addiction. It protects you from relapses by preventing accidental exposure to porn on your phones and laptops. BlockP restricts access to pornographic content to make your phones and computers safer.

1. BlockP’s AI scans web pages in real-time for pornographic content and filters it. The AI can detect explicit content in the form of images, text, and video. So, you are assured of complete protection from accidental exposure.
2. The porn blocker has password protection to prevent uninstalling and unblocking of the websites. BlockP’s filters also work in incognito mode. So, even during the moments of temptation, you can not override the blocker.
3. While BlockP lets you block specific adult websites, its whitelist feature ensures full access to essential websites. Using its focus mode, you can block distracting Apps (Instagram, Twitter etc.) and boost your productivity.
4. Along with blocking access to adult content, BlockP redirects you to motivational quotes, goal trackers, meditation audio, and focus exercises to distract you from pornographic urges. 
5. BlockP online community supports your recovery by providing a safe space. Here you can find inspiration and mentorship from others who are also on a journey of porn addiction recovery.