PHOENIX — Arizona Governor Kate Hobbs on Friday vetoed HB 2133, the “Protect Act,” which would have imposed new requirements for adult content uploaded online.
The bill was part of the current legislative trend aimed at addressing nonconsensual intimate images online, including those generated by AI. However, it also included new verification and consent requirements for adult websites.
Under those requirements, adult sites would have been required to use “reasonable” verification methods to ensure that any individual depicted in sexual material was over 18 and had provided consent, and to maintain records of such verification for at least seven years.
In her veto letter, Hobbs reassures the legislature that current state law already covers AI-generated images for revenge porn, and that the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act further protects Arizonans from being victimized online.
The letter also explains that Hobbs vetoed HB 2133 because the bill would have had a “chilling effect” on free speech, noting that the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Nick Kupper, “stated in committee the legislation’s intent is to require the consent of an elected official before they are satirized on a show like South Park.”
“South Park” episodes have included satirical scenes of President Trump naked in bed with Vice President Vance, and with Satan.
Kupper, who also authored Arizona’s age verification law, had amended HB 2133 to include language exempting digitally manipulated material created for the purposes of parody, comedy, artistic expression or “criticism of matters of public concern.” However, Hobbs’ letter asserts that Kupper rebuffed her office’s efforts to “protect victims without shielding politicians from criticism,” and opted instead for “a partisan approach that attempts to make political satire illegal.”
While the age and consent provisions in the final bill reflected measures already generally considered standard in the industry, an earlier draft included a contradictory provision forbidding producers from retaining identifying information after model age verification was complete. This “catch-22” would have effectively made it impossible for adult sites to operate in Arizona, but was eliminated during the amendment process.
As XBIZ reported in April, the Free Speech Coalition worked closely with Kupper on that and other substantive changes to the legislation.
