PHOENIX — A member of Arizona’s House of Representatives on Wednesday introduced a bill that would make it illegal to produce or distribute adult content in that state.
Republican Rep. Khyl Powell’s HB 2900 would impose civil penalties for producing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, or commercially distributing pornography in Arizona, including via websites or digital services.
The bill allows for civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, or per day in violation of the law. While the bill assigns enforcement to the state attorney general, it also allows private individuals to pursue civil action "in the name of" Arizona, in cases where the attorney general does not do so first.
Arizona has an age verification law on the books, which took effect Sept. 26. However, a total ban would challenge long-established jurisprudence recognizing adult content as protected speech under the First Amendment.
Nevertheless, calls for banning adult content have increased during the past year. In January 2025, an Oklahoma state senator introduced a bill that would criminalize all adult content and authorize the state to imprison those who create or even view it. In May, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced federal legislation that would redefine almost all visual depictions of sex as obscene and therefore illegal — a goal that was also laid out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy blueprint, which has heavily guided the Trump administration’s agenda. In September, Michigan lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it illegal to distribute pornography via the internet in that state and require internet service providers to implement filtering technology to prevent Michigan residents from accessing prohibited material.
All three bills appear to have stalled out in their respective legislatures. HB 2900 has been referred to the Arizona House of Representatives Commerce and Rules committees.
