Indiana SB 17 (Adult Content)
What it does
Indiana SB 17 makes any adult-oriented website with more than a third material harmful to minors verify visitors are 18 using a government digital ID or a third-party check of a driver's license or state ID number. The Attorney General can seek an injunction and civil penalties up to $250,000, and a parent whose child was harmed can also sue.
Why it matters
Indiana is the patchwork's clearest legal arc. A federal judge blocked the law in 2024 as facially unconstitutional, then the Supreme Court upheld an identical Texas statute in 2025 and pulled the reasoning out from under that injunction.
Our take
Indiana lost the first round when Judge Young called the law facially unconstitutional, then the Supreme Court handed the states the win in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. The lesson every legislature took from Indiana is that the courts stopped being an obstacle.
Votes
- Senate — Passed (44 to 1) · January 18, 2024
- House — Passed (92 to 2) · February 27, 2024
- Senate — Concurred (46 to 2) · March 4, 2024
Timeline
- March 13, 2024Signed into law
- June 30, 2024Federal judge blocked it as unconstitutional
- June 27, 2025Supreme Court's Paxton ruling upheld identical Texas law
Legal challenges
Preliminary injunction granted June 30, 2024 (Judge Young) finding SB 17 facially unconstitutional; the Supreme Court's June 2025 Paxton decision upholding Texas's identical law removed the legal basis for that block
Our coverage: all age-verification stories · Status checked July 19, 2026