FSC Calls on NC Governor to Veto Age-Verification Bill

LOS ANGELES — Free Speech Coalition (FSC) released a statement asking North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper to veto House Bill 8, the legislation to which a Republican legislator attached a copycat age-verification amendment.

This is the statement from FSC:

In a letter to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Alison Boden has called on the Governor to veto House Bill 8, which mandates age-verification for North Carolina residents accessing adult websites.

The bill passed on Sept. 21 and is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature.

“This age-verification law is flawed and deeply unconstitutional, and will face many of the same legal challenges as laws in states like Texas and Louisiana have faced,” says Boden. “In my letter, I advised the Governor of the law’s significant technical and legal problems, and offered to work with him in finding effective solutions to keep minors from accessing adult content online.”

Free Speech Coalition has challenged Texas, Louisiana and Utah in federal court over their states’ age-verification laws. ACLU, FIRE, Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Media Coalition and Tech Freedom recently filed a joint amicus brief in support of Free Speech Coalition’s challenge in Texas.

The full text of FSC’s letter to Gov. Cooper can be read here.

For more information, visit FreeSpeechCoalition.com.