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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the state's new law requiring websites with pornographic material to verify the age of its users. The state attorney general is arguing that the complaint is misguided and names the wrong defendants.
The Free Speech Coalition, a trade association representing the adult industry, filed the suit in early May over SB287. The legislation was designed to restrict access by minors to online pornographic content by requiring age verification.
Websites that fail "to perform reasonable age verification methods," could also be sued for damages that stem from a minor accessing the adult content, according to the new law.
The law sailed through the Utah Legislature during the 2023 session with unanimous support.
But the Free Speech Coalition says the Utah law runs afoul of the First Amendment by imposing a "content-based restriction on protected speech" without accomplishing its stated purpose. The group claims minors can "easily obtain" the content "from other sources and via other means," according to the original complaint. The group has since asked the court to put a hold on the new law.
The motion filed on June 14 is the latest development in the case. In a 13-page filing, attorneys for Utah say the complaint actually names the wrong people.
"There is no case or controversy between plaintiffs and these defendants," the court documents state.
The defendants — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson — are not actually charged with enforcing the act, Utah attorneys argue.
Rather, the law creates a private right of action, the state claims, "by which Utah residents — and not state actors — are empowered to (enforce)."
"Because Commissioner Anderson and Attorney General Reyes lack authority to enforce the act, there is nothing this court can enjoin them from doing," court documents read.
Attorneys for the state are asking the court to hear arguments for the motion to dismiss on July 17.
