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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri has become the latest state to formally place age verification requirements for pornography websites into state law.
Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a package of public safety bills on Thursday that included House Bill 1839, the age verification measure introduced by Republican state Rep. Sherri Gallick of Belton.
The legislation was sponsored in the Missouri Senate during the most recent legislative session by Republican State Sen. Mike Henderson of Cape Girardeau.
“The legislation I signed today strengthens the laws that protect our families, supports the men and women who serve our country and communities, and gives our state stronger tools to keep dangerous criminals off our streets,” Gov. Kehoe said in a statement announcing the bill package.
Under House Bill 1839, any website where at least 33 percent of its content is considered harmful to minors or classified as pornographic must verify the age of its users. The requirement applies not only to adult websites but also to mainstream social media platforms, including Reddit and X, if they meet the law’s threshold.
Missouri’s attorney general will enforce the law through civil actions. Violations can result in penalties of up to $10,000 per day, with an additional fine of $250,000 if minors are found to have accessed age-restricted content.
The law is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 28, nearly two months after the close of the state’s fiscal year on June 30. Missouri officials had previously pursued age verification through a regulatory action issued in 2025 by then-Attorney General Andrew Bailey, an effort later supported by his successor, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway. Lawmakers ultimately chose to place the requirement into state statute in an effort to strengthen its standing against potential legal challenges in state court.
