WASHINGTON—In the latest show of a growing political division, the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) announced its support for the SCREEN Act.
Biometric Update reported Wednesday that Iain Corby, executive director of AVPA, was invited to a meeting of the Congressional Family Caucus, testifying in support of the act, officially the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net Act. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., introduced the act in Nov. 2023.
Corby told the conservative Caucus, which Rep. Miller founded, that the bill was “the right federal law.” There are no indications that civil liberties groups, even right-wing ones that have expressed concern for age verification laws like Americans for Prosperity, were present to refute Corby’s claims.
As AVN reported, the SCREEN Act requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce elements of the bill that would require porn websites to verify user ages. FTC will serve as the exclusive enforcing agency of other similar acts. If the act is adopted, the FTC would be required to conduct regular audits.
Corey Silverstein, a First Amendment attorney specializing in adult entertainment clients, told AVN that the AVPA’s support for the SCREEN Act is “unsurprising.”
“The SCREEN Act, like many of these state laws, is constitutionally dubious and ignores the First Amendment and established case law,” Silverstein said. “Many of the state laws are already being challenged in courts, and if the SCREEN Act is signed into law, it will undoubtedly face similar legal challenges.”
He added, “It’s also unsurprising to see the AVPA supporting the SCREEN Act, given the financial benefits it stands to gain if the legislation passes.” The association touts representing at least 30 age assurance software providers, including companies like Yoti, Ondato and Incode. Silverstein noted that AVPA clearly has a “vested interest.”
Lawrence Walters, another First Amendment attorney specializing in adult industry clients, offered a more balanced assessment.
Walters explained, “If passed, the SCREEN Act would set a uniform standard for age verification by online platforms. This could result in preemption of the numerous state-level laws that impose a wide variety of age verification obligations with differing definitions, requirements and enforcement methods.”
Walters referred to the inconsistent nature of age verification bills implemented at the state level. The result is literally a patchwork of non-uniform laws.
“While some lawmakers argue that these laws are designed to protect children from exposure to harmful materials, many free speech advocates and adult industry operators believe that the underlying motivation for these laws is to effectively ban adult content by making compliance too burdensome or expensive,” Walters said.
He refers to the fact that many child protection organizations, such as the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), recognize AV laws as potentially harmful.
ICMEC, the sister organization of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton supporting the plaintiffs. In this case, the Free Speech Coalition sued the state of Texas over its age verification law, House Bill 1181, calling these laws unconstitutional.
Free Speech Coalition (FSC) maintains key arguments that laws requiring age verification, including bills like the SCREEN Act, could be inequitable. Despite these concerns over constitutionality and unfair enforcement, Corby and the AVPA continue to lobby against adult entertainment companies and the FSC.
AVN has reported extensively on the work of the AVPA. For example, Corby has previously told AVN that he intends to work alongside FSC but has continued to land on the side of the anti-pornography stakeholders. Another example of this is Corby appearing alongside lobbyists for anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups. Consistently, Corby has maintained that his trade organization is agnostic to politics. This was the same tone in a statement from Corby explaining his appearance at the Congressional Family Caucus.
“Whether or not to introduce age restrictions on children accessing adult content online remains a question for elected representatives, not trade bodies, but if there is to be national legislation rather than a complex patchwork of differing state laws that will be much more costly for the adult industry to implement then, to quote what I said in Congress directly, ‘What we need is the right federal law, and I believe the SCREEN Act fits the bill,’” Corby told AVN in an email.
In response to Corby’s presentation at the Congressional Family Caucus, the Free Speech Coalition minced no words. Mike Stabile, the coalition’s director of public policy, told AVN that bills like the SCREEN Act will ultimately be censorial and violate the First Amendment rights of adult entertainment industry professionals.
