Opposing Age Verification in New Hampshire
April 6, 2026
House Commerce and Consumer Affairs
The General Court of New Hampshire
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
Chairman Hunt, Vice Chairman Potucek, and Members of the Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
My name is Mandy Salley, and I am the Chief Operating Officer of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation. Our work is grounded in the principle that sexual freedom is a fundamental human right, including the rights to free expression, privacy, and access to information.
We strongly oppose SB 648.
While this bill is framed as a measure to protect minors, it instead creates significant and well-documented harms to adults’ constitutional rights, public health, and access to lawful information. It does so by requiring invasive age-verification systems that undermine privacy, chill lawful speech, and restrict access to vital educational resources.
Recent data released by Woodhull in March 2026 demonstrates that these harms are not theoretical; they are already occurring.
In a national survey of sex educators and sexual health professionals conducted between March 3 and March 28, 2026, we found that:
- 73% of sex educators are concerned that age-verification laws will impact their work, practice, or resources
- 76% fear these laws will be used to further restrict access to sex education
- 18% report that these laws have already impacted their work, rising to 33% in states where such mandates are in effect
These findings confirm what we have warned from the outset: laws like SB 648 do not simply target explicit content. They sweep far more broadly, restricting access to lawful, medically accurate, and often lifesaving information.
The problem lies in the vague and expansive definition of “material harmful to minors.” In practice, this standard has already been used in other states to block access to LGBTQ+ resources, sexual health information, and educational materials that are neither obscene nor unlawful.
SB 648 also raises profound constitutional concerns.
The Supreme Court has long recognized that the First Amendment protects not only the right to speak, but the right to receive information, particularly online and anonymously. Laws that require individuals to verify their identity in order to access lawful content impose a chilling effect that is functionally indistinguishable from censorship.
Moreover, the bill mandates the collection of highly sensitive personal data such as government-issued identification or biometric information, without providing meaningful guarantees about how that data will be stored, used, or protected. In an era of frequent data breaches and cyberattacks, this poses a substantial risk to every New Hampshire resident.
We want to be clear: we share the goal of ensuring minors’ safety online. But SB 648 does not achieve that goal. Instead, it imposes sweeping restrictions on adults, undermines privacy, and limits access to critical educational resources.
This bill is part of a broader trend of policies that restrict access to information about sex, gender, and sexuality, often under the guise of protecting children, but with far-reaching consequences for everyone.
We urge you to reject SB 648 and instead pursue solutions that genuinely support youth safety without sacrificing constitutional rights, public health, and access to information.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mandy Salley
COO
Woodhull Freedom Foundation