Tag: Paxton

  • The Supreme Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton

    The Supreme Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton

    FIRE staff responds to the Court’s decision in Free Speech
    Coalition v. Paxton that addresses a Texas law requiring age
    verification for accessing certain sexual material online.

    Joining us:

    Will
    Creeley     — Legal director

    Bob Corn-Revere — Chief counsel

    Ronnie London — General counsel

    Timestamps:

    01:21 How the case wound up at the Supreme Court 06:57 Bob’s
    experience with arguing strict scrutiny in the courts 09:32
    Ronnie’s perspective on the ruling 10:22 Brick + mortar stores vs.
    online sites 12:07 Has the Court established a new category of
    partially protected speech? 13:36 What speech is still subject to
    strict scrutiny after the ruling? 15:55 What does it mean to
    address the “work as a whole” in the internet context? 17:24 What
    modifications to the ruling, if any, would have satisfied FIRE?
    18:06 What are the alternatives to address the internet’s risks
    toward minors? 20:16 For non-lawyer Americans, what is the best
    normative argument against the ruling? 22:38 Why is this ruling a
    “canary in the coal mine?” 23:36 How is age verification really
    about identity verification? 24:42 Why did the Court assume the
    need to protect children without citing any scientific findings in
    its ruling? 26:17 Does the ruling allow for more identity-based
    access barriers to lawful online speech? 28:04 Will Americans have
    to show ID to get into a public library? 29:30 Why does stare
    decisis seem to mean little to nothing to the Court? 32:08 Will
    there be a problem with selective enforcement of content-based
    restrictions on speech? 34:12 Could the ruling spark a patchwork of
    state laws that create digital borders? 36:26 Is there any other
    instance where the Court has used intermediate scrutiny in a First
    Amendment case? 37:29 Is the Court going to keep sweeping
    content-based statutes in the “incidental effect on speech” bucket?
    38:14 Is sexual speech considered obscene? 40:33 How does the
    ruling affect adult content on mainstream social media platforms
    like Reddit and X? 43:27 Where does the ruling leave us on age
    verification laws?

    Show notes:

    – Supreme Court ruling: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1122_3e04.pdf

    – FIRE statement on FSC v. Paxton ruling: https://www.thefire.org/news/fire-statement-free-speech-coalition-v-paxton-upholding-age-verification-adult-content

    – FIRE’s brief for the Fifth Circuit: https://www.thefire.org/news/supreme-court-agrees-review-fifth-circuit-decision-upholding-texas-adult-content-age

    – FIRE’s amicus brief in support of petitioners and reversal:
    https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/amicus-brief-support-petitioners-and-reversal-free-speech-coalition-v-paxton

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  • FIRE statement on Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton upholding age verification for adult content

    FIRE statement on Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton upholding age verification for adult content

    Today, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold Texas’s age-verification law for sites featuring adult content. The decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton effectively reverses decades of Supreme Court precedent that protects the free speech rights of adults to access information without jumping over government age-verification hurdles.

    FIRE filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that free expression “requires vigilant protection, and the First Amendment doesn’t permit short cuts.” FIRE believes that the government’s efforts to restrict adults’ access to constitutionally protected information must be carefully tailored, and that Texas’ law failed to do so. 

    The following statement can be attributed to FIRE Chief Counsel Bob Corn-Revere. 

    Today’s ruling limits American adults’ access to only that speech which is fit for children — unless they show their papers first.

    After today, adults in the State of Texas must upload sensitive information to access speech that the First Amendment fully protects for them. This wrongheaded, invasive result overturns a generation of precedent and sacrifices anonymity and privacy in the process.

    Data breaches are inevitable. How many will it take before we understand the threat today’s ruling presents?

    Americans will live to regret the day we let the government condition access to protected speech on proof of our identity. FIRE will fight nationwide to ensure that this erosion of our rights goes no further. 

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