Supreme Court Could Lift Texas’ Restrictions On Porn Sites Next Term

The U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear a challenge from the adult entertainment industry against a Texas law mandating age verification for users of pornographic websites.

The case, brought by the Free Speech Coalition, an association of adult entertainment industries, will be reviewed during the court’s next term starting in the fall.

The Free Speech Coalition argued a Texas law requiring age verification for users violated the First Amendment. 

Under the law, porn sites are required to ask users to upload a photo of a government ID to access the site. Challengers said identifying before accessing the content violated access to free speech online.

“While purportedly seeking to limit minors’ access to online sexual content, the act imposes significant burdens on adults’ access to constitutionally protected expression,” the coalition said in its appeal.

The coalition also asked justices to temporarily block the law while the appeal continued but they rejected the request.

According to the Texas Tribune, the law also carries fines of up to $10,000 per violation by a site, and fines could be raised to $250,000 per violation that involves a minor.

Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular adult websites, blocked access to users in Texas and displayed a message to state users stating: “As you may know, your elected officials in Texas require us to verify your age before allowing you to access our website. Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”

Historically, the Supreme Court has ruled that federal efforts to restrict the distribution of obscene material to minors are unconstitutional restrictions on free speech. Similar age verification laws have been enacted in several other states.