The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has published a sharp critique of a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) event that promoted sweeping age verification mandates and broader online content restrictions, warning that the event signals a coordinated federal push to undermine legal protections for the adult industry.

The event, titled “The Attention Economy: How Big Tech Firms Exploit Children and Hurt Families,” was held on June 4 and featured panelists from numerous conservative and anti-porn organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), Family Policy Alliance, American Principles Project, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

According to FSC’s analysis, the event was not a neutral policy discussion on child safety, but rather a platform for religiously aligned advocates to push for nationwide age verification laws, deplatforming of adult content, and ultimately, the criminalization of the adult industry.

“This government-sponsored event was not a good-faith conversation about child safety — it was a strategy session for censorship,” the FSC wrote. “With federal regulators, religious conservatives, and anti-porn crusaders aligned on a common goal, the adult industry is facing an unprecedented, coordinated campaign to undermine its legal protections.”

The event was organized by FTC Senior Policy Advisor Jon Schweppe, a recent hire from the American Principles Project, a group that has championed federal age-verification mandates. Schweppe openly acknowledged the presence of Iain Corby, director of the Age Verification Providers Association, signaling direct ties between the regulatory discussion and commercial verification interests.

FTC leadership indicated plans to use all available tools to impose stricter online age restrictions, citing the limitations of current systems that rely on unverified, self-reported birthdates. The FTC Chair voiced support for state-level age-verification laws targeting adult content and encouraged legislative action that goes “beyond the current legal regime.”

Panelists were explicit in their goals to move beyond state-based initiatives.

“There’s really no reason why we shouldn’t eventually get some sort of nationwide age verification legislation passed,” said one representative from the American Principles Project.

Others used the platform to vilify the adult industry, conflating consensual porn production with prostitution and sex trafficking. A representative from the Family Policy Alliance called the adult industry “some of the most nefarious actors on this planet” and claimed, without evidence, that they are dependent on underage viewers and resistant to regulation because “they believe it is a moral good that kids should be able to access porn.”

The event saw support for several bills and initiatives that would dramatically reshape online speech and privacy rights:

• App Store Accountability Act: requires age verification for app access
• Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA): Obligates platforms to mitigate “harms to minors”
• CASE IT Act: Strips Section 230 protections from adult platforms lacking safeguards
• Revisions to COPPA to include stricter age checks
• Creation of a private right of action for “porn addiction” lawsuits
• Calls to emulate EU regulatory models and broaden the FTC’s use of Section 5 authority

One panelist openly stated their goal was to challenge the Supreme Court precedents protecting adult content, advocating for legal strategies that could pave the way to a total ban on pornography.

“This isn’t just about age verification,” FSC warned. “It’s about erasing our right to exist.”

The FSC’s statement connects the FTC event to broader political strategies aimed at curtailing online freedoms under the guise of child protection. The FSC v. Paxton case, now under Supreme Court review, was repeatedly referenced by panelists as a key moment in their campaign to redefine the boundaries of free speech—and potentially dismantle the legal framework protecting adult content.

“We must remain vigilant and organized,” the FSC concluded, urging performers, platforms, and allies to see these developments as part of a national pro-censorship agenda threatening the First Amendment rights of millions.

Follow the Free Speech Coalition on X at @FSCarmy.