Woodhull Responds to Supreme Court Decision on Age Verification Laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — June 27, 2025 — Washington, DC

Today, June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court released its decision in Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v Paxton, ruling against free speech and privacy. In the ruling, the court states, “The First Amendment leaves undisturbed States’ traditional power to prevent minors from accessing speech that is obscene from their perspective. That power includes the power to require proof of age before an individual can access such speech. It follows that no person—adult or child—has a First Amendment right to access such speech without first submitting proof of age.”

Protecting children online does not require sacrificing the First Amendment. In our Fact Checked by Woodhull series, we address the truth that age verification for websites is not the most effective way to ensure child safety online and explain why age verification laws contradict the First Amendment. Woodhull also debunks the myth that age verification is easy and seamless and that it is a secure process

Responding to the Supreme Court’s decision, Woodhull President and CEO, Ricci Joy Levy, stated:

“The Supreme Court’s refusal to block Texas’s deeply flawed age-verification law is more than a disappointing legal outcome—it is a direct attack on free speech, bodily autonomy, and the digital privacy rights of every person in this country. This law is not about protecting children; it is about chilling expression, controlling access to information, and empowering the state to determine what adults can read, watch, or create.

Let me be clear: the Woodhull Freedom Foundation stands firmly with the Free Speech Coalition and with all creators, educators, and users whose rights are threatened by this ruling. The First Amendment doesn’t come with a morality clause, and it doesn’t stop at state lines.

This decision is not just wrong—it’s dangerous. It undermines the fundamental human right to sexual freedom and expression, rights that are essential to our dignity, autonomy, and health.

We will not be silent. We will continue to fight in the courts, in Congress, and in our communities to defend our rights against censorship and state control. And we urge every person who values freedom—not just sexual freedom, but the freedom to think, speak, and live authentically—to stand with us in this fight.

This is not the end. It is the beginning of a broader, louder, and more urgent call to action.”

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