Judge blocks Pornhub ban in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WXIN) – A judge has blocked a new Indiana law from going into effect that would have effectively cut off Hoosiers from accessing adult content sites like Pornhub. In his decision, the judge called the law “probably unconstitutional.”

Earlier, Indiana lawmakers passed Senate Bill 17, which was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb and is scheduled to go into effect on July 1. Under the restrictive bill, websites containing “material harmful to minors” would require Indiana residents to submit confidential documents such as driver’s licenses to prove their age.

While supporters of the bill have argued that the purpose of the age verification law is to protect minors from accessing pornographic materials, critics have pointed out that the bill not only constitutes a potential violation of the First Amendment, but also puts Indiana residents at significant risk of having their confidential information and documents stolen .

While Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has defended the age-verification law as a “shield” to protect children from the “psychological and emotional consequences associated with viewing pornography,” the Free Speech Coalition has filed a lawsuit to prevent the law from taking effect.

“We will continue to fight for the right of adults to access the internet free from shame and surveillance,” said Alison Boden, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition. “While they may seem reasonable at first glance, laws like SB17 effectively function as government censorship.”

On Friday, a judge in the U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law from taking effect July 1. In his decision, the judge said the law “likely violates the First Amendment” and repeated many of its criticisms, such as how the law could be easily circumvented through technology and the law’s broad, vague scope.

The law’s ambiguity was previously highlighted by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of Indiana, which sounded the alarm over the age verification law and the unclear use of “material harmful to minors,” which the ACLU said could go beyond blocking pornography and also be used to blocking “age-appropriate LGBTQ+ content” or censoring content related to sex education.

The ACLU also pointed out how the law could be easily circumvented, unnecessarily putting Hoosiers’ sensitive information at risk.

“The worst part is that the law won’t work at all,” the ACLU of Indiana said. “Minors will simply visit sites that are not regulated by Indiana law or use technology to bypass verification. A @CommonSenseMedia report found that 6 in 10 older teens already use VPNs to browse the internet.”

As part of his decision, the judge wrote in defense of his order, stating that “the Indiana Legislature has chosen an ineffective and broader method to protect minors from harmful material than other alternatives. The First Amendment does not allow such imprecision.”

The order will remain in effect until a final judgment is issued or the order is terminated by a higher court.