Florida AG Proposes Rules to Enforce Age Verification Law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, has officially proposed regulations that would be used to enforce the state's age verification law covering adult websites and social media networks. Moody is a staunch critic of the adult entertainment industry and is regarded by many as both a proxy for Donald Trump and a far-right politician aligned with Gov. Ron DeSantis on many anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs, like denying gender-affirming care for minors and endorsing the now-gutted "Don't Say Gay" law. AVN reported in March that Gov. DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 3 into law. The age verification law will enter force on January 1, 2025, and is enforced by Moody's office. To some, proposing these regulations is a show of defiance to the potential for litigation in state or federal courts. A report by the News Service of Florida, a wire service, refers to the ongoing litigation campaign by the adult entertainment industry and big tech to challenge age verification measures in other states. Of note is the case Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton. Adult industry advocacy group the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and the owners of the largest adult websites in the world have sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to prevent him from enforcing that state's controversial House Bill 1181. The lawsuit was recently taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court for review next court term.  Moody's office proposed the enforcement rules to the Florida Administrative Register. AVN reviewed the "Notice of Proposed Rule" pertaining to adult entertainment platforms. In the proposed rule, an adult platform is ultimately defined as a commercial entity used to publish and distribute content potentially "harmful to minors." The proposed rule states that content considered harmful to minors "means all documents, photographs, films, recordings of any type, data processing software, or other items that are subject to recording, sharing, or transmitting that exist on a website or application that is visible or could be visible to a user who accesses the website or application, regardless of whether any user actually views the material." The rule also reiterates that platforms are considered "harmful to minors" if at least 33.3 percent of all content published on that platform meets the same legal and regulatory standard. Additionally, the proposal calls for the use of "a method of verifying age that is regularly used by the government or businesses for the purpose of age and identity verification." Such a definition includes age verification that requires users to submit their government identification or other sensitive, personally identifiable information.  The proposed regulation, Rule 2-44.001, is available here. Matthew Pruiett, Florida Assistant Attorney General, is the counsel of record responsible for proposing Rule 2-44.001.