JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida is set to duke it out in the courtroom with the adult entertainment industry over a state law that would require websites that host adult content to verify the age of their users.
The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, was designed as a way to prevent minors from being exposed to explicit content online.
Adult websites would have to contract with third-party vendors tasked with verifying users’ ages.
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While not explicitly specified in statute, lawmakers have suggested options like facial scans, ID scans, or other personal identifying information that could possibly be used for age verification.
The law forbids that data from being used for other purposes, and the data is not allowed to be retained after the verification is complete.
State Senator Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) was among those who voted yes on the bill earlier this year.
“We don’t want 13 and 14-year-olds looking at this stuff, and so this is how we’ve handled it,” said Fine.
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But now, a lawsuit filed by the Free Speech Coalition on behalf of the adult entertainment industry is hoping to block the law.
“Obviously nobody wants minors accessing adult content,” said Mike Stabile, Director of Public Policy for the Free Speech Coalition.
Stabile argued the law violates adults’ privacy and free speech rights.
“I know that the law says, hey listen, it’s going to be anonymous, nobody is going to keep this information. That’s not the way the internet works,” said Stabile.
The impending law has already led at least one major website, Pornhub, to announce plans to stop offering services in Florida on Jan. 1.
“It’s certainly up to them, but that’s not a product I’m going to be sad to see leave the state,” said Fine.
But Stabile argued that as more legitimate adult entertainment businesses pull out, more nefarious actors will be lying in wake to fill the void.
“In reality, the laws as they are designed are ineffective at their goals and have serious sort of First Amendment consequences for people who do want to surf the internet anonymously,” said Stabile.
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Florida is among 19 states that have implemented age verification laws.
One of them in Texas is already deep in litigation and will be before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.
The outcome of that case will likely help determine the fate of Florida’s law as well.
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