The Free Speech Coalition dropped a lawsuit challenging a Florida law requiring age verification for adult websites after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar Texas law mid-June.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker approved the motion to dismiss on July 8, a day after it was filed by attorneys of the Free Speech Coalition, the trade association of the adult entertainment industry.
Nearly two weeks earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court released its 6-3 opinion, which Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a footnote that 21 other states, including Florida, have imposed similar age verification requirements “to access sexual material that is harmful to minors.”
The Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton “significantly reduced” the chances for a successful challenge to Florida’s law, said Mike Stabile, the director of public policy for the Free Speech Coalition, in a statement. That’s why the group decided to drop the lawsuit.
“However, we are continuing to the monitor the governmental efforts to restrict adults’ access to the internet in Florida,” Stabile said in the statement. “The Paxton decision does not give the government carte blanche to censor content it doesn’t like.”
The dismissal of this case upheld Florida’s laws “intended to protect children,” said Jae Williams, the press secretary for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. Williams said Uthmeier “stands by these laws and will continue to enforce them.”
“Florida continues to lead from the front in the fight to protect children and will not cower to the baseless claims of those who seek to harm them,” Williams said in a statement.
The Free Speech Coalition had a much tougher argument after the Court’s opinion lowered the standard of review from strict to intermediate scrutiny, which made it so the Texas law wouldn’t violate the First Amendment. Intermediate scrutiny would require the government to show that a law serves an important interest and is substantially related to achieving that interest.
Florida’s age verification requirements for adult websites
Lawmakers passed an age verification requirement in 2024, and the Free Speech Coalition filed its lawsuit against then-Attorney General Ashley Moody in December. Moody was appointed to U.S. Senate, and Uthmeier was appointed earlier this year to succeed Moody as state attorney general.
This law also included social media restrictions for minors, which is facing a separate federal lawsuit. In early June, Walker temporarily blocked the law’s provision that prohibits anyone under 16 from using some social media platforms, excluding 14- and 15-year-olds who obtain parental permission.
Plaintiffs in the age verification lawsuit said that the law violated the First Amendment, the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause and federal law. Florida wasn’t alone in facing litigation for this type of law, since Free Speech Coalition also filed challenges in states including Tennessee, Louisiana, Utah, Indiana, Montana.
The age verification law took effect Jan. 1, which led to some popular porn websites, like PornHub, to require Florida users to verify their age while others fully blocked access in the state.
This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@gannett.com. On X: @stephanymatat.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lawsuit challenging age verification for adult websites dropped in Florida
Reporting by Stephany Matat, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
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