Indiana AV Bill Advances to Governor's Desk Despite ACLU Warning

INDIANAPOLIS—A bill that would require age verification for adult entertainment websites in Indiana has been transmitted to the office of Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb. The bill, Senate Bill (SB) 17, is poised to become law given the broad bipartisan support. Sen. Mike Bohacek, a Republican representing the community of Michiana Shores, initially introduced the measure to the Senate with Rep. Joanna King, also a Republican of Middlebury, bring the bill in the House of Representative. AVN previously reported on Senate Bill 17 and its original text, which featured criminal penalties for age verification law violators. Luckily, the bill was amended eliminating the criminal penalties. However, SB 17 is still technically a copycat measure to other age verification laws introduced throughout the United States, starting in Louisiana. "This is going to go a long way to making sure our kids are not viewing this content," Bohacek said when the bill passed the Senate in January, reports the Indianapolis Star online. Since then, the Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern over Senate Bill 17 being unconstitutional.  "This legislation will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on free expression online," the ACLU argues in a February 22 blog post. "The legitimate fear of having personal information exposed may deter adults from accessing legal and consensual adult content, thereby limiting their freedom to explore and express themselves in a private digital space." The national chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union recently came out against age verification legislation by filing an amicus brief before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the litigation Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. Civil liberties organizations with the ACLU have aggressively opposed age verification legislation. These organizations include the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the think tank TechFreedom. States across the United States, those predominately controlled by conservative Republican state legislatures, have copycat laws.