Indiana Governor Signs Controversial Age Verification Bill Into Law

Indiana Governor Signs Controversial Age Verification Bill Into Law

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, has signed into law the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

SB 17 was authored by Republican Sen. Mike Bohacek and requires age verification for material that Indiana deems “harmful to minors.” The new law will take effect July 1.

As XBIZ reported, the Indiana chapter of the ACLU issued a statement last week warning about the likelihood of the new law being used to target the LGBTQ+ community.

SB 17, the Indiana ACLU explained, goes far beyond its stated aim of limiting minors’ access to certain content online and “would ultimately violate the constitutional rights of adult Hoosiers.”

“This bill stipulates that any website that displays ‘material harmful to minors,’ is required to use an age verification method to guarantee only adults are accessing the website,” the civil liberties group wrote. “If the website fails to do so, the parents of a child harmed by the website’s content can sue for damages. And, as passed in the Indiana House, the bill would also allow the Attorney General to sue companies who fail to follow the law.”

SB 17 “will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on free expression online. The legitimate fear of having personal information exposed may deter adults from accessing legal and consensual adult content, thereby limiting their freedom to explore and express themselves in a private digital space,” the ACLU of Indiana concluded.

Indiana is the ninth U.S. state to pass a law mandating age verification for viewing adult content.

States are “only just beginning to implement” these laws, Bohacek told local news outlets earlier this month. “So it’s important for Indiana to be a leader for others to follow.”

Indiana's Powerful Catholic Church Is Behind Legislative Effort

Indiana’s powerful Catholic Church — the state is home to Notre Dame University — openly advocated in favor of SB 17 through its official “public policy voice,” the Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC).

ICC Executive Director Angela Espada told religious news site Today’s Catholic that she “can attest to the harm that easy access to online pornography can inflict on young people” because of her prior role as a deputy prosecutor in the Marion County prosecutor’s office.

Confusingly, Espada cited as an example a “grooming” scenario in which an adult accessed adult content and showed it to a minor — a situation that would not be addressed by SB 17.

“In situations involving a trusted individual, one of the devices used was exposing them to drugs, alcohol and pornography,” Espada stated, adding that “in states where robust age verification systems are already in place, pornography sites have shut down access to their services.”

Alexander Mingus, associate director of the ICC, expressed satisfaction that Democrats were offering unquestioning support to the anti-porn efforts of religious conservatives.

“It’s heartening to see this and other efforts across the country, and it being a truly bipartisan priority,” Mingus stated.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Congress alleging that being exposed to pornography can be “traumatic” to minors and that adult content offers them “a distorted image of sexuality, relationships, and men and women, which may then affect their behavior, including addiction to pornography.”

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

North Dakota Legislature Backs Off on Device-Based AV

A North Dakota state senator who sponsored a device-based age verification bill that Free Speech Coalition (FSC) endorsed is now seeking to amend the bill to require site-based age verification instead.

PLBY Group Taps Byborg Principal Gyorgy Gattyan for Board of Directors

Playboy parent company PLBY Group has appointed Gyorgy Gattyan to its board of directors.

NYC Adult Stores May Face Enforcement of 2001 Zoning Law

Adult retail stores in New York City are bracing for a potential crisis as an appeals court considers whether to allow enforcement of a 2001 city zoning law aimed at forcing them out of most parts of the city.

FSC Brings Adult Industry Debanking Issues to Congressional Hearing

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) recently had its "Statement for the Record" on the debanking of adult industry members read to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Clips4Sale Releases '2025 US Fetish Map'

Clips4Sale (C4S) has released its 2025 Fetish Map of the United States, showing the most searched-for fetish in each U.S. state.

Star Factory PR Relaunches Website

Star Factory PR has relaunched its official website, with several new features.

Solomon Friedman of Ethical Capital Partners Profiled in Canada's National Post

Solomon Friedman of Ethical Capital Partners, the investment group that controls Aylo and its flagship website, Pornhub, is profiled this week in Canada's National Post newspaper.

New Content Platform 'RM11' Launches

The new content platform RM11 has launched.

DripDrop Relaunches Through YourPaysitePartner

DripDrop Productions has relaunched through YourPaysitePartner (YPP).

Angie Bloom Launches New Paysite

Producer and content creator Angie Bloom has launched a new gangbang-themed membership site, Bloom.Shop, through MyMember.site.

Show More