Utah authorities have agreed to temporarily delay enforcement of a law targeting VPN usage while waiting for a federal judge to rule on a legal challenge, according to a September 3 report by Fox 13 News.
The Utah Department of Commerce stated the measure, which went into effect on Thursday, will not be enforced while the legal proceedings continue.
Utah became the first state in the U.S. to pass a law targeting VPN usage earlier this year through SB 73. The legislation, which was positioned as amendments to the state's age verification law, includes a provision stating that any person physically in the state is considered to be accessing a website from that state, regardless of VPN use. Additionally, the law states that website owners hosting a substantial portion of material harmful to minors may not facilitate or encourage the use of a virtual private network.
While the law does not outright ban VPNs, it makes websites liable for their users' VPN usage. This stance has alarmed privacy and digital rights advocates. The Electronic Frontier Foundation noted in April that if a website cannot reliably detect a VPN user's true location, the legal risk could lead sites to either ban all known VPN IPs or mandate age verification for every visitor globally.
The law was signed in March and was originally intended to take effect in May, but the initial rollout was paused following a federal court challenge by Aylo, the company that owns Pornhub. During a hearing on Thursday, the judge stated he could not commit to a date for a ruling.
Aylo and Pornhub have been vocal opponents of the age verification measures. The company has stated that current implementation methods create a substantial risk for privacy issues and identity theft. Pornhub has chosen to block access in 25 states rather than comply with such laws.
