The Supreme Court just upended internet law, and I have questions
- The Supreme Court has ruled that using age verification to gate adult content does not violate the First Amendment in the US.
- The court’s decision, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, concludes that states have a valid interest in keeping children away from pornography and that age verification is a valid strategy to enforce this.
- The ruling also holds that internet age verification “incidentally” affects how adults can access protected speech, but the risks are not meaningfully different from showing identification at a liquor store.
- This decision reverses previous Supreme Court rulings in the early 2000s, which had thrown out age verification rules for the internet, citing outdated reasoning.
- The ruling has significant implications for online content creators and platforms that rely on age verification to restrict access to adult material, and raises questions about the future of online free speech and regulation.
Age verification is perhaps the hottest battleground for online speech, and the Supreme Court just settled a pivotal question: does using it to gate adult content violate the First Amendment in the US? For roughly the past 20 years the answer has been “yes” – now, as of Friday, it’s an unambiguous “no.”
Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton is relatively straightforward as Supreme Court rulings go. To summarize, its conclusion is that:
- States have a valid interest in keeping kids away from pornography
- Making people prove their ages is a valid strategy to enforce that
- Internet age verification only “incidentally” affects how adults can access protected speech
- The risks aren’t meaningfully different from showing your ID at a liquor store
- Yes, the Supreme Court threw out age verification rules repeatedly in the early 2000s, but the internet of 2025 is so different the old reasoning no longer applies.
Around this string of logic, you’ll find a huge number of objections and unknowns. Many of these were laid out before the decision: the Electronic Frontier Foundation has an overview of the issues, and 404 Media goes deeper on the potential …
Read the full story at The Verge.
Q. What is the main issue being addressed by the Supreme Court’s recent decision?
A. The use of age verification to gate adult content online.
Q. How has the Supreme Court previously ruled on this issue in the past?
A. For roughly the past 20 years, the answer has been “yes”, that using age verification violates the First Amendment.
Q. What is the main conclusion of Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton?
A. States have a valid interest in keeping kids away from pornography and making people prove their ages is a valid strategy to enforce that.
Q. How does the Supreme Court’s decision affect how adults can access protected speech online?
A. The court ruled that internet age verification only “incidentally” affects how adults can access protected speech.
Q. Is showing your ID at a liquor store similar to using age verification on the internet?
A. Yes, according to Justice Thomas’ opinion, the risks are not meaningfully different from showing your ID at a liquor store.
Q. Why did the Supreme Court revisit this issue in 2025?
A. The court ruled that the old reasoning no longer applies due to significant changes in the internet landscape since the early 2000s.
Q. What is the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s take on the issues surrounding age verification?
A. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has an overview of the issues, highlighting concerns and unknowns related to the decision.
Q. How does 404 Media approach this issue?
A. 404 Media goes deeper into the potential implications and consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision on age verification rules.
Q. What is the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision for online speech in the US?
A. The decision has significant implications for how online platforms handle age verification and restrict access to adult content.
Q. Will this decision lead to changes in how online platforms enforce age restrictions?
A. Not explicitly stated, but the decision may lead to a reevaluation of age verification practices by online platforms.