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Utah Law Requiring Warning Label On Porn Passes The State House

(Photo: PornHub/ Shutterstock)

Marlo Safi Culture Reporter
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Utah’s House lawmakers approved a proposal to require pornography to feature warning labels about its harm to minors.

HB243 was introduced by Utah Republican State Rep. Brady Brammer and would require porn producers to adopt warning labels and feature the warning on all porn sites. The state House passed the proposal Tuesday, and it now moves to the Senate for approval, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Inspired by California’s labels on toxic containers, Brammer hopes his bill will bring ‘public interest lawsuits’ that will cause producers and distributors of porn on the Internet to take notice, according to Utah Policy.

The label would read: 

STATE OF UTAH WARNING

Exposing minors to pornography is known to the state of Utah to cause negative impacts to brain development, emotional development, and the ability to maintain intimate relationships.

Such exposure may lead to harmful and addictive sexual behavior, low self-esteem, and the improper objectification of and sexual violence towards others, among numerous other harms.

The conservative state popularly known for its signicant Mormon population has influenced many other states to follow its lead in the effort to raise awareness of pornography’s deleterious affects on children.

In 2016, Utah lawmakers officially affirmed pornography as a public health crisis, and Utah was the first state to pass an anti-porn resolution. Arizona lawmakers approved a similar resolution in 2019 to prevent exposure to pornography by minors, echoing the sentiment of Utah’s lawmakers. (RELATED: If Utah’s Latest Push Goes National, The Porn Industry Could Face A Major Obstacle)

Not obeying the porn labeling law would carry a $2,500 civil fine “per incident,” meaning per individual view. 

The bill does not carry a constitutional note, meaning legislative attorneys do not believe the law requiring porn producers or distributors to feature the warning label would violate Utah’s or U.S. Constitutional First Amendment rights, according to Utah Policy.