Virginia Age Verification Law: Two Separate Statutes, One Lobbying Push

Virginia has two entirely separate age-verification statutes, passed in different years by different bills, that some news coverage blends together. The 2023 law requiring adult websites to verify visitors are 18 or older remains in force and unchallenged. The 2025 law limiting minors' social media use was blocked by a federal judge in February 2026 and remains enjoined on appeal.

Information last verified on 2026-09-02. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Two Statutes, Not One: Why Virginia's Law Isn't Singular

Virginia is the cluster's clearest example of two genuinely independent age-verification statutes rather than one bill split into two chapters. Georgia's two regimes came from a single 2024 bill. Virginia's came from two different bills in two different legislative sessions addressing two different subjects: a 2023 harmful-to-minors civil-liability statute, and a 2025 amendment to the state's consumer-data-privacy law aimed at social media. Search demand for "Virginia age verification law repeal" and headlines about a "court blocking Virginia's age verification law" almost always describe the second statute, not the first, and conflating the two produces a genuinely wrong answer about which one is currently enforceable.

The Adult-Content Law: In Force Since 2023

Virginia Code section 8.01-40.5, enacted through 2023's Senate Bill 1515, requires a commercial entity that knowingly or intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on a website where a "substantial portion," more than 33.33 percent, of the content is such material, to verify that anyone accessing it is 18 or older. Acceptable verification methods include a commercially available database regularly used by businesses or government for age-and-identity verification, or another commercially reasonable method. The statute exempts interactive computer service providers and users from liability under subsection D.

Unlike most of its peer states, Virginia enforces this requirement through private civil liability rather than a state agency's fixed penalty schedule: a covered site that fails to verify can be sued for damages resulting from a minor's access, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs, rather than facing a per-violation fine from the Attorney General the way Georgia, Florida, Missouri, and Ohio's statutes work. The law took effect July 1, 2023. Pornhub blocked Virginia visitors ahead of that date rather than build a compliant verification system, and no lawsuit against the statute itself has surfaced in more than three years it has been in force.

The Social-Media Law: Preliminarily Enjoined

Senate Bill 854, from the 2025 session, amended the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act to require social media platforms to use "commercially reasonable methods" to determine whether a user is under 16, and to limit such minors to one hour of daily platform use unless a parent or guardian verifiably consents to a higher limit.

NetChoice sued in NetChoice v. Jones in the Eastern District of Virginia. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles granted a preliminary injunction on February 27, 2026, finding the law was not narrowly tailored: it would have required all users, including adults, to verify their age before accessing constitutionally protected speech, and it could bar minors from more than an hour of otherwise-lawful content, so it failed strict scrutiny despite Virginia's compelling interest in protecting youth mental health. Attorney General Jay Jones filed a notice of appeal to the 4th Circuit on March 3, 2026, and Virginia's opening brief was filed April 15, 2026. Virginia twice asked the appeals court to let it enforce the law while that appeal proceeds, and lost both times: the court denied a first stay motion on April 10, 2026 because Virginia had not sought a stay in the district court first, and denied its renewed stay motion on August 24, 2026, in an order entered at the direction of Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin with the concurrence of Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, with Judge Roger Gregory voting to grant it. The merits appeal itself is still pending; the court has scheduled oral argument for October 28, 2026 in Richmond. The social-media law has never actually been enforced.

The 2026 Pornhub Letter: Lobbying for Repeal, Not a Lawsuit

On July 28, 2026, Pornhub sent a letter to more than 300 lawmakers in more than a dozen states, Governor Spanberger and Attorney General Jay Jones among them, describing age-verification laws like Virginia's 2023 statute as "performative, ineffective, and unenforceable" and asking officials to pursue repeal through their legislatures. Virginia was one recipient of a national mailing rather than its sole target, so the letter says less about Virginia in particular than a Virginia-only framing suggests. That is a request directed at elected officials, not a court filing. No repeal bill has passed as of this writing, and Virginia Code section 8.01-40.5 remains in force. This letter and its subject matter are entirely separate from the NetChoice v. Jones litigation described above, which concerns the different, 2025 social-media statute.

What This Means If You Live in Virginia or Run a Website There

If you operate a commercial site where more than a third of the content is material harmful to minors, Virginia's age-verification requirement under section 8.01-40.5 has applied since 2023 and remains enforceable through private civil suits; it has not been repealed or blocked, despite the 2026 lobbying letter asking for its repeal. If you operate a social media platform, the age-determination and screen-time requirements under SB 854 remain blocked by a federal injunction while Virginia's appeal is pending, so they are not currently enforceable. For how Virginia regulates personal data more broadly, see Virginia data privacy laws.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Virginia's age-verification statutes. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The social-media law's appeal remains open and its outcome could change the enforceable status described above; verify current status with the Virginia Attorney General's office, the 4th Circuit's docket, or a licensed Virginia attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

Related Articles

• Age Verification Laws by State
• Georgia Age Verification Law
• Florida Age Verification Law
• Virginia Data Privacy Laws

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Last updated: 2026-09-02.