Indiana Judge Grants Injunction on Age Verification Law

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—An Indiana judge on Friday granted the motion filed earlier this month by adult industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs for an injunction against the state's recently passed age-verification law for adult sites while the FSC et al.'s lawsuit challenging the measure, State Bill (SB) 17, is being litigated. SB 17 was scheduled to go into effect on Monday, July 1. FSC's co-plaintiffs in its suit, which names Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita as the defendant, including Aylo Premium LTD; Aylo Freesites LTD; Webgroup Czech Republic, A.S.; NKL Associates, SRO; Sonesta Technologies, S.R.O., Sonesta Media, S.R.O.; Paper Street Media, LLC; Neptune Media, LLC; Mediame, SRL; Midus Holdings, Inc. A statement from FSC on the injunction follows: Free Speech Coalition fully agrees with the decision of the District Court in Indiana preventing that state’s age verification law from taking effect on Monday, July 1. Judge Richard L. Young handed down his decision today, granting FSC and our co-plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction on the grounds that SB17 is “likely facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment.” The injunction effectively stops the law from taking effect by preventing the Indiana Attorney General from taking any action to enforce it.  As FSC has repeatedly asserted, we can and should work to prevent minors’ from accessing age-inappropriate material and there are less burdensome solutions that do not violate the rights of legal adults to access the internet without enduring surveillance or risking their anonymity.