Texas Attorney General Secures Victory in Legal Battle Against Pornhub and Other Porn Companies

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has scored a significant win against several pornography companies, including Pornhub, in a legal battle over a state law called HB 1181.

HB 1181 mandates that online providers of explicit materials must implement reasonable age verification measures to protect minors from accessing pornography. Initially, Pornhub and other entities challenged the law in Texas, obtaining a temporary halt from a district court. However, Attorney General Paxton swiftly appealed the decision and obtained a stay, allowing enforcement of the law. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has partially overturned the initial injunction, deeming the age verification requirements constitutional.

In its ruling, the court stated, “Applying rational-basis review, the age-verification requirement is rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in preventing minors’ access to pornography. Therefore, the age-verification requirement does not violate the First Amendment.”

Although the court lifted the injunction against the age verification provision, it upheld the lower court’s decision to block a different part of the law. This section would have mandated pornography websites to display a health warning on their landing pages and advertisements.

To read the decision, click here.