A Texas law requiring online age verification to access pornographic websites will be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
The challenge comes from a trade group representing the adult entertainment industry.
What is HB 1181, Texas’ age-verification law?
Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1181 late last year. The law requires porn sites to verify the age of users with a government-issued ID or reasonable alternative. Other states have similar requirements.
Violators of HB 1181 can be fined $10,000 per day and $250,000 “if a child is exposed to pornographic content due to not properly verifying a user’s age.”
The Supreme Court will hear the challenge in its next term, which starts in October.
More on the Texas law: Supreme Court declines to block Texas age-verification law on porn websites like Pornhub
Texas law ‘imposes significant burdens on adults’ access,’ group says
The trade group, called The Free Speech Coalition, says that rule poses “unique security and privacy concerns” by exposing users to the risk of inadvertent disclosures, leaks, or hacks.
“While purportedly seeking to limit minors’ access to online sexual content, the Act imposes significant burdens on adults’ access to constitutionally protected expression,” the group told the court.
Free Speech Coalition is pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to review our case, recognizing the importance of the issues raised by our Texas challenge. We appreciate the opportunity to make our case before the Court.https://t.co/ouhePHfNQb
— Free Speech Coalition (@FSCArmy) July 2, 2024
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton responded that nothing about the requirement is exceptional.
“Instead, it simply requires the pornography industry that makes billions of dollars from trafficking in obscenity to take commercially reasonable steps to ensure that those who access the material are adults,” he wrote in a filing.
5th Circuit Court of Appeals previously upheld Texas law
Last March, in a court battle between the state and Aylo Global Entertainment — which owns many popular pornographic websites, including Pornhub — sides argued whether or not Texas’ law violated free speech rights. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that HB 1181 does not violate the First Amendment.
The appeals court did, however, strike down the part of the law requiring pornographic websites to display health warnings about their content.
In addition to Texas, Pornhub reluctantly blocked site access for people in other states with age-verification laws, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
The American Civil Liberties Union has voiced support for the challenge by the industry.
“The Fifth Circuit’s ruling wrongly allowed the government to rob adults of their online privacy and burden their access to protected speech, all under the guise of protecting children,” said Vera Eidelman, an attorney with ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “Over the years, we’ve seen similar misguided laws about everything from drive-in movies to video games to websites, and courts have repeatedly struck these laws down
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Supreme Court to review Texas age-verification law on porn sites
Signup bonus from
