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, with penalties that range from a misdemeanor to a high-level felony depending on the conduct.

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 of LB 1092 itself 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; its text does not create a Nebraska Attorney General enforcement mechanism. A separate 2026 statute, described next, does give the Attorney General a role over obscene material online.

Civil Liability and Attorney General Enforcement for Obscene Material Online

Nebraska added Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-21,304 in 2026 (LB 935, §6), operative July 18, 2026. It prohibits knowingly and intentionally allowing or facilitating access to prohibited content on a publicly available internet website, disseminating that content on a website, or creating or developing it. Prohibited content means child sexual abuse material, content that promotes it, or material that is obscene as defined in Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-807.

The statute creates two enforcement tracks. An individual depicted in or exposed to the content may bring a civil action for equitable relief and actual damages, with attorney's fees and litigation costs for a prevailing plaintiff, though an adult cannot sue over exposure to child sexual abuse material that the adult intentionally viewed. Separately, the Attorney General or a county attorney may seek a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation and may sue to enjoin the violation.

A violation is also, independently, a deceptive trade practice under the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and relief does not depend on the conduct producing a criminal conviction. An internet utility is not liable under this section merely for providing access, transmission, or storage for content outside its control, provided it did not help create or develop that content.

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. Distributing or making public an image that was secretly recorded that way is a Class IIA felony for a first or second violation and a Class II felony for a third or subsequent violation, under subsection (3).

The more common revenge-porn scenario falls under subsection (4) instead: distributing an image the subject originally allowed to be taken, where the subject reasonably expected it would stay private, did not consent to it being shared, and the sharing serves no legitimate purpose. That is a Class I misdemeanor, and a Class IV felony for a second or subsequent violation. Threatening to distribute intimate imagery with intent to intimidate, threaten, or harass someone is also a Class I misdemeanor, under subsection (5).

Sex offender registration reaches only convictions under subsections (1), (2), and (3), the intrusion, secret-recording, and secretly-recorded-distribution offenses, and only where the court finds the defendant was 19 or older and the victim was under 18 at the time. A conviction under subsection (4) or subsection (5) does not carry that registration requirement.

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.

One statewide limit cuts across that. Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-829 declares that sections 28-807 to 28-829 are the sole and only regulation of the commercial distribution of obscene material in Nebraska, and it voids any municipal or county law, ordinance, regulation, special or discriminatory tax, or license relating to obscenity or to obscene material, whether adopted before or after those sections.

A local rule that regulates an adult business on ordinary zoning, hours, or land-use grounds is a different question from one aimed at obscene material itself, and only the latter class is preempted. A business operating in Nebraska should still check its specific city or county code, reading it against that limit 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

• Nebraska Deepfake Laws
• Nebraska Expungement Laws
• Nebraska Sexting Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it legal to watch pornography in Nebraska?

Yes. Private adult viewing and possession of legal (non-obscene, non-CSAM) pornography is not a crime in Nebraska. Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-813 reaches obscene material only when someone sells, distributes, exhibits, or possesses it with intent to sell or distribute it, consistent with the Stanley v. Georgia baseline that private possession alone cannot be criminalized.

Does Nebraska require age verification to access porn sites?

Yes. LB 1092, the Online Age Verification Liability Act, took effect in 2024 and applies to commercial websites where a substantial portion of the content is material harmful to minors. It is enforced through private lawsuits brought by minors, parents or guardians, or people whose retained identification was mishandled, and that statute does not give the Attorney General an enforcement role. A separate 2026 law, Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-21,304, does: it lets the Attorney General or a county attorney seek civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation against websites that make obscene material available.

Is Nebraska's age-verification law being challenged in court?

A different Nebraska law is under an active injunction, not the adult-content one. In June 2026, a federal court in NetChoice v. Hilgers partially blocked the 2025 Parental Rights in Social Media Act (LB 383), which targets social media account creation, not pornography sites. LB 1092's adult-content age-verification requirement has not been challenged and remains in force.

What is the penalty for possessing child sexual abuse material in Nebraska?

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-1803, an adult (19 or older) who knowingly possesses or receives child sexual abuse material commits a Class IIA felony. A person under 19 faces a Class I misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class IV felony for a repeat offense, with a Class IC felony for anyone with a prior covered-offense conviction. A limited affirmative defense exists for close-in-age minors involving consensually created images with no coercion or distribution.

Is sharing someone's intimate images without consent illegal in Nebraska?

Yes. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-311.08(4), distributing an intimate image the subject reasonably expected would stay private, without consent and for no legitimate purpose, is a Class I misdemeanor, rising to a Class IV felony for a second or subsequent violation. If the image was secretly recorded in the first place, subsection (3) applies instead, and that carries a Class IIA felony for a first or second offense and a Class II felony for a third. Recording someone's intimate area without their knowledge and consent is a separate Class IV felony, and threatening to distribute such an image is a Class I misdemeanor.

Can a minor be charged for possessing a sext in Nebraska?

Potentially, but Nebraska's child sexual abuse material statute treats minors under 19 differently than adults. A first-offense possession by someone under 19 is a Class I misdemeanor rather than a felony, and an affirmative defense can apply to consensually created images between minors close in age. RecordingLaw's Nebraska sexting laws page covers this scenario in detail.

Does Nebraska regulate adult businesses like strip clubs or adult bookstores?

There is no single statewide licensing or zoning statute for sexually oriented businesses in Nebraska. Cities and counties, such as Sarpy County and the City of Papillion, regulate these establishments through their own local zoning and licensing ordinances. One statewide limit applies: Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-829 makes sections 28-807 to 28-829 the sole regulation of the commercial distribution of obscene material and voids local ordinances, licenses, and taxes aimed at obscene material itself.

Does federal law also apply to pornography distributed in Nebraska?

Yes. Producers of sexually explicit content must comply with federal recordkeeping requirements under 18 U.S.C. §2257, which is separate from anything in Nebraska's state code. Federal child sexual abuse material law and the federal Take It Down Act also apply on top of Nebraska's own statutes.