Adult Industry Experts Unpack Age Verification Issue at AVN Panel

LAS VEGAS—Leading adult entertainment industry and sex workers' rights activists and stakeholders unpacked the ever-compounding issue of age verification during a noteworthy panel held for industry stakeholders during the first day of AVN's Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) on Jan. 21.  Moderated by this report's author, AVN contributing editor Michael McGrady Jr., the panel was aptly titled "The State of Age Verification: Compliance and Vigilance." Those seated on the panel were a diverse array of legal and compliance experts, including Corey Silverstein of Silverstein Legal, Lawrence Walters of Walters Law Group; Mandy Salley of the human and sexual rights NGO, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation; Free Speech Coalition (FSC) executive director Alison Boden; and Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) executive director, Tim Henning.  Held in the business lounge adjacent to The Theater at The Virgin Las Vegas, McGrady and the six experts provided an engaging and educational session for dozens of audience members on the current status of one of the most pressing issues the collective adult entertainment industry faces, as well as mainstream tech spaces. Panelists initiated the conversation in response to questions about the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton. As AVN reported, previously, FSC and a plaintiff class of the largest adult entertainment tube websites and their parent companies sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican. Paxton was tasked with defending a controversial age-verification law, House Bill (HB) 1181, adopted by the state's conservative supermajority. "If you're a website operator, you have to look at what's going on, you have to look at more than just active laws," shared Silverstein during the panel. "You have to adjust, look at your business, do traffic analysis, and see where your traffic is coming from, and focus on compliance from those places. But ultimately, you have to pay attention not just to the laws but where they're actively chased and what they're doing in those states," the leading First Amendment attorney noted. What Silverstein alludes to is the so-called "post-Paxton" legal landscape regarding age verification and general child safety initiatives moving forward.