Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita initiated enforcement actions against adult websites, sending cease and desist letters to at least a dozen operators for alleged non-compliance with the state's age verification law. This development occurred on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments concerning a legal challenge to Texas’ age verification law.

Enforcement Actions and Allegations

On Wednesday, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita dispatched several cease and desist letters to adult websites, asserting their failure to adhere to Indiana’s age verification law. An industry source familiar with the legal proceedings indicated that Rokita issued at least a dozen such letters.

XBIZ obtained a copy of one of these letters, provided by the principal of an affected adult site who requested anonymity. The letter states that on December 31, 2024, an investigator employed by the Office of the Indiana Attorney General accessed a pornographic website in Indiana and found it lacked any age verification to protect minors from accessing harmful sexual material. The letter demands that the recipient acknowledge the Cease and Desist Notice within 14 days of receipt and confirm the implementation of reasonable age verification in accordance with Indiana law.

Potential penalties for noncompliance outlined in the letter include civil penalties of up to $250,000, in addition to the costs associated with the investigation and enforcement action.

Legal Context and Industry Response

The timing of these letters coincided with the U.S. Supreme Court's oral arguments on a legal challenge to Texas’ age verification law. Adult industry attorney and First Amendment expert Corey D. Silverstein, whose legal firm represents several clients who received the Indiana letters, cautioned that compliance with the demand does not guarantee immunity from future litigation. Silverstein noted that even if a recipient begins complying with the law immediately, they could still be held accountable for prior violations.

Silverstein characterized the Indiana Attorney General's approach as "brazen," given that Indiana’s age verification law is currently being challenged by the Free Speech Coalition and has already reached the circuit court of appeals. A U.S. district court judge has paused the Free Speech Coalition's lawsuit regarding Indiana’s age verification law, pending the Supreme Court's decision in the Free Speech Coalition-led challenge to Texas’ law.

Silverstein suggested that Rokita might have deliberately chosen to send the letters on the day of the Supreme Court's session on the Texas case to "intimidate website operators and cause angst," describing the action as "unprofessional and almost childlike behavior."

Aylo's Motion to Dismiss

In a related development, Aylo Holdings, the parent company of Pornhub.com, filed a motion to dismiss a state lawsuit initiated in December by the office of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. This motion was filed on a Monday in March 2026, according to court documents. The judge has granted an extension on the filing deadline for the lawsuit.

Rokita, identified as a conservative Republican, sued Aylo and its subsidiaries, alleging violations of the state's age-verification law by failing to block traffic from users employing virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxies. Attorneys representing Aylo's network of sites and subsidiaries stated in court documents that Rokita alleges the "use of technological subterfuge."

The motion to dismiss details that investigators used a VPN to mask their Indiana location, making it appear as though they were accessing the websites from Illinois, a state without an age verification law. This action, according to Aylo, circumvented the geoblocking measures implemented by the website operators to comply with Indiana's age verification law. The plaintiffs alleged Aylo broke the law by not implementing "any reasonable form of age verification," a claim derived from the investigative efforts of the AG's office, which used a VPN spoofing an IP address from Chicago.

Pornhub.com and its network blocked all Indiana IP addresses across its digital space to comply with the state's age-verification law. The legal brief explains that "Indiana lacks jurisdiction over Aylo Freesites because it geoblocked IP addresses associated with the state in order to avoid doing business in the jurisdiction." The brief also states that "Indiana’s AVL does not require website operators to implement me."

Key Facts

  • Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sent at least a dozen cease and desist letters to adult websites on Wednesday.
  • The letters accuse the websites of failing to comply with Indiana’s age verification law.
  • An investigator from the Indiana AG's office accessed a website on December 31, 2024, and found no age verification.
  • Recipients are demanded to acknowledge the notice and implement age verification within 14 days.
  • Potential penalties for noncompliance include civil penalties up to $250,000 plus investigation and enforcement costs.
  • Aylo Holdings filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Indiana AG, arguing lack of jurisdiction due to geoblocking.