Free Speech Coalition, along with a diverse range of co-plaintiffs, has filed a legal challenge in Tennessee over the state’s age-verification law, arguing that it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In addition to challenging the merits of the law, the Free Speech Coalition and its co-plaintiffs have requested an expedited preliminary injunction in the United States District Court Western District of Tennessee. SB1792 empowers the state attorney general to bring felony criminal charges against websites with “material harmful to minors” if they do not require visitors to upload a government ID, scan their face, or otherwise verify their age and identity. Joining FSC in the challenge are a host of others harmed by the law, including individuals and companies working in sex education, journalism and sexual wellness, as well as adult content creation and distribution. Read more on our blog.

The Free Speech Coalition’s Board of Directors election will take place from December 3 to December 10, 2024. 

This year, seven Board seats are up for election. The candidates include seven incumbent Board Directors and one member-nominated candidate. Each elected member will serve a two-year term beginning January 1, 2025. All FSC members in good standing will receive an email with a unique voting link on December 3. Participation is vital to ensure a strong and representative Board. If you do not plan to vote, please click the link and select "Abstain" to prevent further reminders. View the candidates that will be listed on the ballot here.

Free Speech Coalition has been notified that a personal injury law firm has begun sending demand letters to websites that are accessible in Kansas without age verification.The law firm’s demand letter seeks close to $1M in damages for allegedly violating Kansas’ age-verification law, which went into effect in July. In Kansas, simple access of an adult website by a minor may be enough to bring a civil case — no demonstration of actual harm is necessarily required. Under the law, claims for statutory damages begin at $50,000. The state’s attorney general is also empowered to bring litigation. Read more on our blog. 

Sex worker advocates Lotus Lain and Renee Olstead will host a virtual event on December 17, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers in support of Chrystul Kizer, an Illinois-based sex trafficking survivor who was jailed after killing her trafficker in self-defense. In addition to time spent with fellow sex workers, attendees will create handmade holiday cards which will be scanned and sent to Kizer. 

“This is a chance to come together, recharge, and uplift survivors while celebrating the holidays,” Olstead shared.

The event is free and will take place via Zoom from 4–6 PM PT. For details, email [email protected] or sign up here.

“‘Engaging in legal speech is not a criminal act,’ Alison Boden, the executive director of Free Speech Coalition, said in a statement. ‘This law, and others like it, have effectively become state censorship, creating a massive chilling effect for those who deal in sex or sexuality, and creating significant privacy risk for Tennesseans who want to access sexual health information, adult content or any other controversial speech.’” Read more on The Tennessean.

“According to Mike Stabile, public policy director for the Free Speech Coalition — a nonprofit advocating for rights within the adult entertainment industry — Sen. Angela Paxton, the attorney general’s wife, is the lead sponsor of the anti-porn legislation.” Read more on El Pais.

“Our communities are deeply divided regardless of which industry you work in or the demographic group you're a part of. The porn industry — which has been in the spotlight more than years past thanks to a far-right proposal to ban explicit content — is no exception. ’I think that the industry has always been hard to pin down ideologically. There are people in the industry who are very progressive and there are people who are very conservative, despite the fact that we're dealing with sex and sexuality.’” Read more on Mashable.

A French court recently ordered the blocking of four porn sites, including xHamster, for lacking proper age verification. However, the complaint targeted only the subdomain “fr.xhamster.com,” leaving the main site accessible in France. This technical oversight underscores the challenges regulators face in enforcing digital restrictions effectively. Read more on Tech Crunch.