Federal Online Sex Trafficking Law Survives First Amendment Look

The U.S. government can continue enforcing a law designed to curb online sales of unlawful acts with sex trafficking victims after a federal court in Washington found that it’s neither overly broad nor unduly vague.

The federal Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, known as FOSTA, doesn’t violate the First Amendment because it doesn’t discriminate against speech based on its content or viewpoint, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said. And the law gives sufficient notice of the type of conduct it prohibits to survive a Fifth Amendment void-for-vagueness challenge, it said.

The ...