West Virginia HB 4412 (Adult-Site Age Verification)

BadLawWV HB 4412West Virginia, United StatesHigh threat
In force since June 12, 2026
  1. Introduced
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Became Law

Stage 4 of 4: Became Law

West Virginia requires adult sites and apps to verify users are 18 or older, names WV Mobile ID as an approved method, and lets parents sue for $10,000 per incident.

Latest update

Took effect

View official bill record

Take action

Learn about the issue and how to make your position known.

Take action on this issue

What it does

HB 4412 creates W. Va. Code chapter 49A, article 1, effective June 12, 2026. A commercial entity must verify that users are 18 or older when more than 33.33% of its site or app is sexual material harmful to minors, using a digital ID such as WV Mobile ID or a commercial or government system based on government ID or transactional data, and it may not keep identifying data. Parents and guardians can sue for $10,000 per incident plus actual damages and fees, and the Attorney General can seek $10,000 per day of noncompliance and $10,000 per instance of data retention. The Office of Technology can write rules, and both kinds of action have a five-year limitations period.

What’s at stake

Adults must show a government credential or transaction history to view lawful material, and the state's own mobile ID is written in as a way to do it. Private suits at $10,000 per incident give sites a strong reason to block West Virginia outright.

Our take

West Virginia passed this without a single no vote in either chamber, a sign of how little weight adult privacy got in the debate. Writing the state's mobile ID into an adult-content law turns a driver's license app into a gatekeeper for legal speech.

Timeline

Took effectLatest

Approved by Gov. Patrick Morrisey (Chapter 70, Acts 2026)

House concurred with a further amendment 96-0; Senate concurred and passed it 33-0

Senate passed it with amendment 34-0

House passed it 94-0

Sponsors

Del. Geno Chiarelli, Del. Jonathan Pinson, Del. Joe Funkhouser, Del. Scot Heckert

Votes

  • House — Passed (94 to 0) · February 12, 2026
  • Senate — Passed as amended (34 to 0) · March 10, 2026
  • House — Concurred with further amendment (96 to 0) · March 14, 2026
  • Senate — Concurred and passed (33 to 0) · March 14, 2026
© 2026 Reclaim The NetPrivacy