New Hampshire SB 648 (Adult Site Age Verification)

New Hampshire, United StatesNew Hampshire SB 648Updated May 14, 2026

Stoppedno longer moving
Bad for your rightsDefeated

Passed the Senate; killed in the House, May 14, 2026

New Hampshire's Senate passed a bill making commercial porn sites verify the age of visitors, and the House killed it in May 2026.

Latest update

House adopted the committee's 15-0 inexpedient to legislate report on the consent calendar

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The bill

Official bill record

Key facts

Where
New Hampshire, United States
Bill number
New Hampshire SB 648
Status
Defeated
Threat
Medium
Last update
May 14, 2026

Topics

Age VerificationDigital IDCensorshipPrivacy

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What it does

SB 648 would have required commercial entities to verify age before allowing access to pornographic material. The House committee report said the bill required users to "scan in a government issued ID," with civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation. Senate Judiciary recommended interim study 3-1, but the full Senate passed an amended version on March 26, 2026. The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee voted 15-0 that it was inexpedient to legislate, and the House adopted that on its consent calendar on May 14, 2026.

What’s at stake

Adults in New Hampshire would have had to scan a government ID to view legal material. That links a real name to browsing at the site or at a verification vendor, and those records can leak.

Our take

The Senate passed an ID gate for adult sites after its own Judiciary Committee had recommended more study. The House Commerce Committee then rejected it 15-0, a clean result in the Live Free or Die state. Many other states have passed the same idea, so expect another attempt.

Timeline

  1. House adopted the committee's 15-0 inexpedient to legislate report on the consent calendarLatest

  2. House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee hearing

  3. Senate passed the bill with an amendment

  4. Senate Judiciary recommended interim study, 3-1

The record

Sponsor

Sen. Tara Reardon

Votes

  • Senate Judiciary Committee: Recommended interim study (3 to 1), March 19, 2026
  • House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee: Inexpedient to legislate (adopted by the House May 14, 2026) (15 to 0)