WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court On Tuesday, Texas refused to block a provision of the law aimed at preventing minors from accessing pornographic content online on free speech grounds.
The justice turned down a request by the Free Speech Coalition, a pornography industry trade group. several companies.
Opponents said the 2023 law violates the First Amendment by requiring anyone using the platforms, including adults, to provide personal information.
One of the provisions of the law, known as HB 1181, mandates that platforms verify the age of users by requiring them to provide information about their identities.
While the law aims to limit children’s access to sexually explicit content, the lawsuit focuses on how these measures affect adults as well.
“Specifically, the act requires adults to comply with intrusive age verification measures that require the provision of personally identifiable information over the Internet in order to access websites with sensitive and intimate content,” the plaintiffs wrote in court filings.
In response, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in his brief that state law “simply requires the pornography industry, which makes billions of dollars from trafficking, to take commercially reasonable steps to ensure that those accessing the material are adults.”
A federal judge ruled that the provision in question was problematic because it had a broader effect than restricting access to minors.
But on appeal, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 for the state and declined to stay its decision pending a Supreme Court review.
After that decision several online pornography platformsPeople in Texas, including Pornhub, have banned people from their sites because of concerns about the provision going into effect.