Wisconsin Governor Vetoes Age-Verification Bill

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has vetoed AB 105, the state age-verification bill that passed the Wisconsin legislature in early March, despite strong opposition from Free Speech Coalition and other civil liberties groups. 

In his letter today explaining the veto, Evers called the bill “an intrusion into the privacy of Wisconsin residents” and noted issues with data privacy and interference with the right to access constitutionally protected content. The Governor called on legislators to advance device-based solutions:

“We can and should work to prevent minors from accessing adult content, but there are better solutions than the one offered by this bill. For example, we can work with tech companies to implement device-based age verification that takes place on a user's phone or computer, which can be a more secure and effective method … I am confident Wisconsin can adopt a solution that is effective at protecting youth from adult content while limiting the risks to Wisconsinites."

Free Speech Coalition has been actively engaged on AB 105 since early last year. In November, FSC Director of Public Policy Mike Stabile flew to Madison to meet with legislators to discuss the legal and technological issues with the bill, including a ban on VPN traffic, and to advocate for device-based verification solutions. The VPN provision was ultimately struck from the bill, but the rest of the legislation advanced. 

Last week, when the bill was sent to the Governor for signature, Free Speech Coalition sent the governor a letter laying out some of the key concerns. 

FSC worked with a broad coalition of organizations, including ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Woodhull Freedom Foundation, and Fight for the Future to educate legislators about the serious problems with the bill.