New Jersey S 1826

Extends New Jersey’s existing law against distributing obscenity to minors to apply to websites. The bill defines failing to age-verify a user as “promoting obscene material” to a minor, which is subject to criminal prosecution (third-degree crime, punishable by 3–5 years in prison and/or up to $15,000 fine) and an additional fine of up to $50,000.

• Age verification mechanisms allowed:
  • State-run digital ID systems (e.g., NJ MVC driver’s license ID verification).
  • Commercial third-party age verification services (websites responsible for ensuring that the provider does not retain, sell, or share user data).
  • Proprietary systems developed by the website itself, under the same data restrictions.
• Platforms must give users a way to contest incorrect age denials.
• Applies to “obscene material” for minors, which is roughly analogous to what other states call “material harmful to minors.”
• Applies to websites where more than one-third of the:
  • revenue comes from obscene content,
  • user accounts show such content, or
  • content on any single account is obscene.
• Enforcement: criminal charges, fines
  • Failure to age-verify exposes the entity to prosecution under New Jersey's existing obscenity statute – a third-degree crime, punishable by 3–5 years in prison and fines up to $15,000
  • Additional civil penalty of up to $50,000 upon conviction
  • Failing to verify is treated as "knowingly" distributing obscene material to minors

The same legislators introduced an identical bill in 2025. It failed.