CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Adult industry advocacy organization the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced Friday that it has filed a legal challenge in Texas over the state’s recently enacted age-verification law. As with laws FSC has challenged in Louisiana and Utah, Texas forces consumers to provide identification information to access adult content. In addition, the Texas law requires that adult sites carry “warning labels” similar to those required on cigarettes and alcohol.
“Texas is not only forcing sites to put their visitors’ privacy at risk, they are forcing them to broadcast misinformation and pseudoscience about sex and sexuality," FSC executive director Alison Boden said. "We are standing up not only for the rights of adult businesses and creators, but for the rights of adult Texans to access legal content in the privacy of their own home, without having to submit to surveillance or propaganda. We can all work to keep minors from accessing adult content, but allowing the government to dictate what information adults can see is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”
Joining Free Speech Coalition as co-plaintiffs are an array of adult platforms and workers, including MG Premium LTD; MG Freesites LTD; Webgroup Czech Republic, A.S.; NKL Associates, S.R.O.; Sonesta Technologies, S.R.O.; Sonesta Media, S.R.O.; Yellow Production S.R.O.; Paper Street Media, LLC; Neptune Media, LLC; Mediame SRL; Midus Holdings, INC.; and Jane Doe, an adult content creator.
The Texas complaint can be found here.