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The attorney general of Florida wants to temporarily stop a lawsuit that challenges the state’s age verification law

Florida – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody asked a federal judge this week to temporarily halt a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of a new state law requiring age verification for access to websites with adult content, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments in January regarding a similar Texas law.
On December 16, the statute was challenged on First Amendment and other constitutional grounds by the Free Speech Coalition, an organization representing the adult entertainment business, and other plaintiffs. Supporters claim the rule is intended to prevent children from accessing pornographic websites, and it is set to go into force on Wednesday.
Moody’s office asked Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to grant a stay of the case in a motion submitted on Tuesday. If the motion is approved, the Florida statute will go into force and stay in place until the Texas case is decided by the Supreme Court.
According to the move, First Amendment questions pertaining to the Florida statute will probably be settled by the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on January 15.
According to the move, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Texas case on January 15—less than a month away—and will, as is customary, provide a decision by the start of July at the latest. “This (Florida) lawsuit could proceed freely with the benefit of the Supreme Court’s authoritative ruling in that case after just six months.”
The age-verification measure was a component of HB 3, a larger bill that also aims to bar minors under 16 from creating accounts on certain social media sites. One of the most prominent topics of the 2024 legislative session was the measure, which was a top priority for then-House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.
The bill’s social media provisions received the greatest attention and are being challenged separately under the First Amendment by organizations representing the IT sector. Until Walker determines whether to grant the plaintiffs’ requested preliminary injunction, Moody’s has agreed not to enforce that portion of the measure. In that matter, Walker has set a hearing for February 28.
However, Moody wants to proceed with the portion of the statute that targets adult websites, according to the motion that was filed on Tuesday. When Pornhub announced this month that it will ban users in Florida from accessing the website due to the law, it garnered widespread attention.
Any company that “knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on a website or application, if the website or application contains a substantial portion of material harmful to minors,” is subject to the lawsuit’s main legal provision. A “substantial portion” is defined as more than 33.3% of the entire content on a website or app.
Businesses must employ measures to “verify that the age of a person attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older and prevent access to the material by a person younger than 18 years of age” in such circumstances, according to the law.
The law “demands that, as a condition of access to constitutionally protected content, an adult must provide a digital proof of identity to adult content websites that are doubtlessly capable of tracking specific searches and views of some of the most sensitive, personal, and private contents a human being might search for,” according to the lawsuit, which also raises concerns about how the law would apply to adults and minors.
“No web user is safe, and hackers are often able to exploit the slightest cracks in a website’s security — however’reasonable’ those security procedures and practices may be,” the lawsuit stated, citing previous high-profile data thefts as evidence. “At least some Florida adults will feel the chill of the act and choose not to access this constitutionally protected material, which is the inevitable outcome.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that the statute fails to appropriately distinguish between younger children and older minors.
“The Florida Legislature has painted all minors, regardless of age or maturity, with a single brush by defining material harmful to minors’ to include that which lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors,” the lawsuit claimed. “The risk of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual health, and the enjoyment of sex (in a state where 17-year-old minors may get married with parental consent) are just a few examples of the wide range of information that has significant value for at least some 16- and 17-year-olds but might be rightfully deemed “harmful” to a 10-year-old.”
The lawsuit claims that the statute violates due process rights, the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and the so-called Supremacy Clause, in addition to First Amendment rights.
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