The Supreme Court of the United States announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to hear a pivotal case challenging Texas’ law mandating age verification to access pornographic websites.
House Bill 1181, which was passed in June 2023, seeks to prevent minors from accessing explicit online content by requiring websites to verify all users’ ages and display health warnings about potential psychological risks. The bill also stipulates that companies cannot retain any information from users and outlines stiff financial penalties for companies that fail to follow the law.
The Free Speech Coalition and several adult entertainment companies have challenged the law, arguing that HB 1181 infringes on America’s First Amendment rights by restricting access to “constitutionally protected speech based on content,” reported CBS.
On August 31, just one day before the law was set to go into effect, a federal district court blocked its enforcement, concluding that it was likely a violation of the First Amendment.
However, the State of Texas appealed the decision, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of the injunction, allowing the state to enforce the law beginning on November 1, while the appeals court reviewed the case.
In March, the Court of Appeals ruled that the health warnings and disclosure requirements of the law are unconstitutional, but the age verification requirement is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in preventing minors’ access to pornography” and, therefore, does not violate the First Amendment.
The plaintiffs have now appealed to the Supreme Court to hear the case. In a filing with the court, lawyers for the plaintiffs said the case “presents a far-reaching question about government efforts to burden disfavored expression of the kind this court has repeatedly deemed worthy of review — in its leading sexual-content cases and many others.”
Texas officials have defended the law as a necessary measure to shield minors from harmful online content, emphasizing that it aligns with other states’ efforts and industry standards for age verification.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Attorney General Ken Paxton has been a strong proponent of HB 1181, suing numerous adult entertainment companies in the sector.
“HB 1181 requires purveyors of obscene materials online to institute reasonable age-verification measures to safeguard children from pornography. Pornhub and other organizations sued Texas, initially obtaining an injunction from a district court. However, Attorney General Paxton immediately appealed and secured a stay, allowing him to enforce the law,” per the Attorney General’s office. “Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has partially vacated the original injunction, ruling that the age verification requirements are constitutional.”
Legal arguments in the case are expected to begin during SCOTUS’s upcoming term starting in October.
HB 1181 has already sparked numerous other debates concerning First Amendment rights and privacy issues in America, as reported by The Dallas Express.