Nebraska Pornography Laws (2026): Obscenity, AV Law, CSAM Penalties

Pornography itself is legal for adults to view and possess privately in Nebraska. State law targets the sale and distribution of obscene material, not private viewing, while a 2024 age-verification law now requires commercial adult websites to check visitors' ages before showing them content that is harmful to minors. Separate statutes cover child sexual abuse material and the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images, both with felony-level penalties.

Is Pornography Legal in Nebraska?

Nebraska's obscenity statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-813, makes it a Class I misdemeanor to knowingly print, copy, manufacture, prepare, produce, or reproduce obscene material for sale or distribution, or to publish, circulate, sell, rent, lend, transport, distribute, exhibit, or promote obscene material. The statute also reaches possession, but only when the person holds the material with intent to sell, rent, lend, transport, or distribute it.

That intent requirement is the key distinction for private adults. Simply owning or viewing legal pornography at home, without any intent to sell or distribute it, is not a crime under Nebraska law. This is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Stanley v. Georgia, which bars states from criminalizing the mere private possession of obscene material in one's own home. Nebraska has not attempted to codify simple possession as a standalone offense.

The federal recordkeeping law for producers of sexually explicit content, 18 U.S.C. §2257, is a federal requirement and is not part of Nebraska's state code.

Nebraska's Age-Verification Law for Adult Websites

Nebraska enacted the Online Age Verification Liability Act, LB 1092, in 2024. The law prohibits a commercial entity from knowingly or intentionally publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on a website where a substantial portion of the content consists of such material, unless the site uses a reasonable age-verification method to confirm visitors are adults. The law took effect in the summer of 2024.

Enforcement runs through private lawsuits rather than a state agency. Minors, their parents or guardians, or individuals whose retained identification information was mishandled can sue under the statute; the text does not create an Nebraska Attorney General enforcement mechanism.

A Separate, Currently Enjoined Law: Social Media Age Verification

Nebraska also has a second, unrelated age-verification statute that readers sometimes confuse with LB 1092. The Parental Rights in Social Media Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§86-1701 to 86-1705 (enacted as LB 383 in 2025), requires social media platforms, not pornography sites, to verify a user's age before allowing account creation and to obtain express parental consent for minors.

In June 2026, a federal court in NetChoice v. Hilgers (D. Neb.) granted a preliminary injunction blocking LB 383's account-creation age-verification mandate and its parental-consent requirement, while allowing the law's parental-monitoring-dashboard provision to proceed. That ruling applies to the social media law, not to LB 1092's adult-content age-verification requirement, which is not enjoined and remains fully in effect. The ruling is preliminary and could be appealed.

Minors: Child Sexual Abuse Material and Harmful-to-Minors Rules

Nebraska's age of majority is 19, not 18, which affects how its child sexual abuse material (CSAM) statutes apply to older teenagers.

Possession. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-1803, an adult age 19 or older who knowingly possesses or receives CSAM commits a Class IIA felony. A person under 19 who does the same faces a Class I misdemeanor for a first offense, escalating to a Class IV felony for a repeat offense, and a Class IC felony for anyone with a prior "covered offense" conviction. The statute includes a limited affirmative defense for defendants under 18 (at the time of the offense) involving consensually created depictions between minors with a small age gap, with no coercion or distribution.

Production and distribution. Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-1805 makes it a felony to knowingly make, publish, direct, create, provide, generate, purchase, sell, deliver, distribute, display for sale, advertise, or trade a visual depiction of a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct, or to employ, force, or induce a child to participate. The penalty is a Class III felony per offense for someone under 19, a Class ID felony per offense for someone 19 or older, and a Class IC felony per offense for anyone with a prior covered-offense conviction.

Sexting. Nebraska does not have a standalone teen sexting statute; sexting between minors is handled through the CSAM possession law above, including its reduced penalties and affirmative defense for close-in-age minors. See RecordingLaw's Nebraska sexting laws page for a full breakdown of how that plays out for teenagers.

Harmful-to-minors dissemination. Distributing material harmful to minors to a minor, separate from the CSAM statutes above, is addressed elsewhere in Nebraska's obscenity framework; the age-verification requirement in LB 1092 targets the same underlying concern for commercial adult websites, described above.

Nonconsensual Intimate Images (Revenge Porn)

Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-311.08 covers several related offenses. It is unlawful to knowingly and intentionally photograph, film, or otherwise record an image or video of another person's intimate area without their knowledge and consent, a Class IV felony. Knowingly and intentionally distributing or making public such an image is a Class IIA felony for a first or second violation and a Class II felony for a third or subsequent violation. Threatening to distribute intimate imagery with intent to intimidate, threaten, or harass someone is a Class I misdemeanor. A defendant convicted under the distribution provisions may also face sex offender registration if the defendant was 19 or older and the victim was under 18.

This statute is separate from Nebraska's pornography and obscenity laws; it applies regardless of whether the underlying image would otherwise be legal to possess. RecordingLaw's Take It Down Act and revenge porn laws by state page covers the federal overlay and how other states handle this conduct.

Public Indecency

Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-806 makes it a Class II misdemeanor for a person 18 or older to perform, procure, or assist in an act of sexual penetration, genital exposure intended to affront or alarm, or lewd fondling or caressing in a public place where the conduct may reasonably be expected to be viewed by the public. Breastfeeding is expressly excluded from the statute.

Adult Business Licensing

No dedicated statewide statute regulates the licensing or zoning of sexually oriented businesses in Nebraska. Local governments, including Sarpy County, the City of Papillion, Minden, and Franklin, regulate adult businesses through their own zoning and licensing ordinances under general home-rule and zoning authority. A business operating in Nebraska should check its specific city or county code rather than relying on a single statewide rule.

Penalties at a Glance

Practical Considerations

Workplace and school device policies commonly restrict access to adult content regardless of what state law permits, and violating an employer's or school's acceptable-use policy can carry consequences separate from any criminal exposure. Federal law layers on top of Nebraska's statutes in several places: 18 U.S.C. §2257 imposes recordkeeping duties on producers, federal CSAM law applies independently of state charges, and the federal Take It Down Act creates its own nonconsensual-image removal process. Nebraska's own age-verification landscape is also unsettled at the margins, since LB 383's social media provisions remain under an active federal injunction that could change on appeal. For advice about a specific situation, consult an attorney licensed in Nebraska.

For general background on the cluster, see RecordingLaw's pornography laws by state hub and its age-verification laws coverage.

More Nebraska Laws

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• Nebraska Sexting Laws