Judge overturns law that would have made Indiana residents upload ID to access porn sites

Indianapolis, Indiana – A new Indiana law that would have virtually prevented Hoosiers from accessing websites with adult content, like PornHub, has been prohibited from taking effect by a judge. The judge declared the law to be “probably facially unconstitutional” in his ruling.

Senate Bill 17, which was previously approved by Indiana lawmakers, was signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb and was scheduled to take effect on July 1. The draconian bill would have compelled Hoosiers to upload private documents, such driver’s licenses, as proof of age to websites that hosted “material harmful to minors.”

The age-verification law’s supporters contended that it was designed to prevent minors from accessing explicit content, like pornography, but its detractors noted that in addition to possibly violating the First Amendment, the law put Hoosiers at serious risk of having their private information and documents stolen.

The Free Speech Coalition filed a lawsuit to prevent the age-verification law from taking effect, despite Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s defense of the bill as a “shield” to shelter kids from “the psychological and emotional consequences associated with viewing porn.”

“We will continue to fight for the rights of adults to access the internet free of shame and surveillance,” said Alison Boden, executive director of Free Speech Coalition. “While they may sound reasonable on their face, laws like SB17 have effectively functioned as state censorship.”

A preliminary injunction was ordered by a judge in the United States District Court of Southern Indiana on Friday, preventing the law’s July 1 implementation. The judge found in his ruling that the rule “probably violates the First Amendment” and agreed with all of the criticisms leveled against it, including the ease with which technology may be used to avoid the ban and its ambiguous, broad application.

The ACLU of Indiana previously raised concerns about the age-verification law’s ambiguous definition of “material harmful to minors,” speculating that it might be used to censor sex education materials or prohibit content that isn’t age-appropriate for LGBTQ+ people in addition to prohibiting pornography.
The ACLU also drew attention to the ease with which the legislation may be broken, thereby endangering the privacy of Hoosiers.

“The worst part, the law won’t even work,” said the ACLU of Indiana. “Minors will just go to sites that aren’t regulated by Indiana law or use technology to bypass the verification method. A @CommonSenseMedia report found 6 in 10 older teenagers already use VPNs to browse the internet.”

As part of his decision, the judge wrote in defense of his injunction by stating, “Indiana’s legislature chose an ineffective and more broad method to protect minors from harmful materials than other alternatives. The First Amendment does not allow such imprecision.”

Until a definitive decision is rendered or the injunction is dissolved by a higher court, it will stay in force.