WASHINGTON — A Texas law aimed at combating pornography is set to be presented before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, raising significant questions regarding free speech, the regulation of online content, and the safeguarding of minors.
Texas joins a growing list of states, over a dozen, that have enacted similar legislation designed to prevent children and teenagers from accessing pornographic material. Notably, the adult-content website Pornhub has ceased operations in several of these states, citing difficulties related to privacy and technical requirements in meeting these legal standards.
The state’s attorneys argue that this law is crucial for shielding children from immediate access to explicit and potentially harmful content available on smartphones. They stated, “Texas aims to protect kids from some of the most degrading sexual material conceivable.”
Conversely, the Free Speech Coalition, a trade organization representing the adult entertainment sector, contends that the law improperly impacts adults by mandating them to disclose personally identifiable information online, which can be susceptible to hacking or online tracking. While they agree on the importance of preventing children’s exposure to pornography, they assert that the law is overly broad and could inadvertently encompass sexual education material or simulated sexual content in films. Additionally, the law’s focus on adult content websites creates a loophole, neglecting search engines that facilitate access to pornography, according to the group’s court filings.
Vera Eidelman, an attorney from the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, discussed the broader implications of this law, stating, “This is fundamentally about how the government can control speech it finds undesirable. Pornography often serves as a bellwether for free speech rights.”
This case is not the first time the Supreme Court has addressed related matters. In 1996, the court invalidated portions of a law designed to restrict minors from viewing explicit online materials. A later ruling in 2004 saw the court split on a different federal statute that aimed to limit children’s exposure to porn but acknowledged the constitutionality of less stringent approaches such as content filtering.
Texas maintains that advancements in technology over the past two decades have made it simpler for online platforms to verify users’ ages through quick image verification, akin to the ID checks conducted at traditional retail stores endorsed by the Supreme Court back in the 1960s.
The Texas law was upheld by a divided panel in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned a previous lower court decision and permitted the age verification requirement to be enforced. The Supreme Court has already rejected an emergency appeal aimed at suspending the age verification requirement while the legal dispute persists.
In addition to Texas, other states including Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia have passed similar laws.
Violations of the Texas law can result in fines reaching up to $10,000, potentially increasing to $250,000 for violations involving minors.
