Supreme Court Upholds Texas Law Requiring Age Verification for Pornography Sites
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a major legal victory at the Supreme Court of the United States as the high court upheld a state law requiring pornography distributors to implement age-verification measures to prevent minors from accessing explicit content online.
The Supreme Court ruled that Texas’s law does not violate the First Amendment, allowing the statute to remain in effect. The law mandates that companies institute “reasonable age verification measures” to restrict access to obscene material by minors.
“This is a major victory for children, parents, and the ability of states to protect minors from the damaging effects of online pornography,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Companies have no right to expose children to pornography and must institute reasonable age verification measures.”
In 2023, adult content providers filed suit to block the law, but Paxton successfully argued for its enforcement while litigation was pending. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, the law is now fully enforceable.
Under the statute, companies that violate the age-verification requirements face penalties of up to $10,000 per day, an additional $10,000 per day for illegal retention of identifying information, and a $250,000 fine if a child is exposed to pornography due to non-compliance.
Attorney General Paxton has filed suit against Aylo Global Entertainment, the parent company of adult websites including Pornhub, for failure to comply. Pornhub subsequently ceased operations in Texas rather than implement the required verification measures.
Click here to read the Supreme Court’s opinion in the case Free Speech Coalition, Inc, ET. AL. v. Paxton, Attorney General of Texas.
