1. United States
2. Letter

I'm writing today in support of strict scrutiny being applied to Texas' age verification laws and other states' age verification laws. Strict scrutiny benefits lawmakers and citizens by preventing overreach in all areas of civil rights. Imagine if strict scrutiny were overturned and lawmakers were elected that used similar laws to stifle access to religious texts online for fear of the contents inside them. The next set of judges may not be inclined to apply strict scrutiny on the belief that the government has a compelling interest to prevent religious radicalization among young people. For reference the religious texts in this example include the Bible. Another example would include requiring face scans or ID for access to sites considered by many to be right wing. The government may cite FSC Vs Paxton as the basis for barring access to The Heritage Foundation or NCOSE due to concerns about hateful speech and its impact on young people. They may cite the ruling to bar access to misinformation from Anti-pornography movement sites and organizations. Strict scrutiny applied to laws concerning speech do not give free passes to minors accessing adult material. It does encourage the government to go back and try again to make more effective, less invasive laws governing minors and material. Providing incentives for better, improved, and privacy-oriented AV would be far better than costly, dangerous age verification that is required by law to be installed on all websites. Telling Texas and other states to try again isn't dodging the issue because it is important to get this right, for the sake of minors and parents. Filters are easily available on app stores and even come pre-installed on devices. They simply need to be turned on. They are not effective by themselves, which is why it is important to mix and match so that minors get the utmost protection on any devices their parents provide them with. Admittedly I use a wide variety of filters and apps on my computer. It makes for a far better less anxiety-inducing experience on the Internet. Most of these apps allow me to customize my experience and control what I see and what I do not want to see. If the issue is minors getting around age verification then device based parental controls are the best suited for situations like that. It puts parents in complete control of their child's online experience while not impeding on the rights of adults. Strict scrutiny provides more benefits to regulatory laws than impediments and even benefit the anti-pornography movement. Please uphold strict scrutiny for age verification.