TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Free Speech Coalition has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against HB 3, Florida's age verification law.
The FSC statement follows:
Free Speech Coalition and its co-plaintiffs have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking the U.S. District Court to block enforcement of HB 3, Florida’s age-verification law. The law mandates age verification for both social media sites and sites with “material harmful to minors.” FSC filed suit against Florida, challenging the constitutionality of the law, on December 16.
“Floridians have the right to go online anonymously,” says Alison Boden, Executive Director of Free Speech Coalition. “While keeping minors from adult content is a laudable goal, the government does not have the right to force legal adults to scan their face, upload a photo ID or otherwise give up their privacy to access the internet.”
The Florida law went into effect January 1, followed quickly by word that the Attorney General’s office has already begun investigating several adult websites.
* * *
Free Speech Coalition is challenging similar laws in Louisiana, Texas, Utah, Indiana, Montana, and Florida. The Texas case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, will be heard by the United States Supreme Court on January 15, 2025.
Joining Free Speech Coalition as co-plaintiffs are the sex education platform O.school (Deep Technologies, Inc.); sexual wellness retailer Adam & Eve (PHE, Inc.); adult fan platform JustFor.Fans (JFF Publications, LLC), and Florida attorney Barry Chase.
The plaintiffs are represented by D. Gill Sperlein of the Law Office of D. Gill Sperlein, Jeffrey Sandman of Webb Daniel Friedlander LLP, Gary S. Edinger of Benjamin, Aaronson, Edinger & Patanzo, P.A., and Lawrence G. Walters of Walters Law Group.
Motion for preliminary injunction (Free Speech Coalition v. Moody)
For more information, visit FreeSpeechCoalition.com.