Statement on the Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear FSC v Paxton
Free Speech Coalition is pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to review our case, recognizing the importance of the issues raised by our Texas challenge. We appreciate the opportunity to make our case before the Court.
“Despite proponents’ claims, online age verification is simply not the same as flashing an ID at a check-out counter. The process is invasive and burdensome, with significant privacy risks for adult consumers,” said Alison Boden, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition. “Sexual expression is the canary in the coal mine of free speech, and we look forward to defending the rights of all Americans to access the internet privately and free from surveillance.”
The Texas law, HB 1181, blocks Texans from accessing any website with more than one-third sexual material inappropriate for minors unless they transmit their personal information, such as a government-issued ID, to verify their age. In August 2023, US District Court Judge David Alan Ezra enjoined the Texas Attorney General from enforcing the law, but his decision was later reversed by a split panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, over Judge Higginbotham’s forceful dissent. In April, Free Speech Coalition and its co-plaintiffs, represented by ACLU and the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court.
The petition was supported by amicus briefs submitted by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children; the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression; the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Woodhull Freedom Foundation; and the American Booksellers for Free Expression, Association of American Publishers, Inc., Authors Guild, Inc., Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and Freedom to Read Foundation.
The Free Speech Coalition is the nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to defending the right to create and enjoy sexual expression in the United States. It has filed legal challenges against online age verification mandates in Texas, Louisiana, Utah, Montana, and Indiana.
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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.
Attorneys for the Plaintiffs are the American Civil Liberties Union, Michael T. Zeller, Derek L. Shaffer, Thomas Nolan, Arian Koochesfahani, and Scott Cole of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, and Jeffrey Sandman of Webb Daniel Friedlander, LLP.
More on Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas can be found here.
