FSC Asks NC Governor Cooper to Veto Age-Verification Bill

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) annouced Friday that it has sent a direct appeal to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper asking him to veto the bill passed by the state's legislature last week that would institude age-verification requirements to access adult entertainment websites from North Carolina-based IP addresses. The FSC's announcement follows: In a letter to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Alison Boden has called on the Governor to veto House Bill 8, which mandates age-verification for North Carolina residents accessing adult websites. The bill passed on September 21 and is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature. “This age-verification law is flawed and deeply unconstitutional, and will face many of the same legal challenges as laws in states like Texas and Louisiana have faced,” says Boden. “In my letter, I advised the Governor of the law’s significant technical and legal problems, and offered to work with him in finding effective solutions to keep minors from accessing adult content online.” Free Speech Coalition has challenged Texas, Louisiana and Utah in federal court over their states’ age-verification laws. ACLU, FIRE, Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Media Coalition and Tech Freedom recently filed a joint amicus brief in support of Free Speech Coalition’s challenge in Texas. FSC’s letter to Governor Cooper can be read here.