A Texas judge issued an order Judicial order Today to stop the implementation of the online age verification bill.
The Free Speech Coalition, along with adult video sites like Pornhub, led the legal challenge against the state of Texas. H.B. 1181Arguing that the bill violates the First Amendment and violates the rights guaranteed by Section 230.
“The court agrees that the state has a legitimate goal in protecting children from sexually explicit material online,” Justice David Alan Ezra wrote in the cross. “But this goal, however crucial, does not negate this Court’s burden to ensure that the laws passed in its pursuit conform to well-established First Amendment doctrine.”
The bill, sponsored by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, would make porn sites verify users’ identities to ensure that only adults are accessing sexually explicit material. The bill also requires these sites to display a “public health warning” in 14-point font or larger, which states that viewing pornography can cause mental illness and increase demand for prostitution and sexual exploitation of children.
“Although these warnings are titled ‘Texas Health and Human Services,’ it appears that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission did not make these findings or announcements.” books Judge Ezra.
Several states passed laws last year trying to keep children away from inappropriate content on adult websites. But digital privacy advocates have for many years expressed concerns about the ways in which online identity verification can be counterproductive.
While HB 1181 does not allow companies or third-party verifiers to store identifying information about their users, this is difficult to ensure or enforce.
“Once information is shared for age verification, there is no way for a website visitor to be sure that the data they provide will not be retained and used by the website, shared or even sold.” He explains The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization that defends civil liberties on the Internet.
When a similar law was passed in January in Louisiana, Pornhub implemented cross-age checks Los Angeles wallet, a state-run digital driver’s licensing app. So, for an adult to access one of the most popular porn sites on the Internet, they must share their government-issued ID.
Adult sites can be fined for not complying with these laws. Under the bill in Texas, for example, the attorney general could sue websites for $250,000 each time a minor is discovered to have accessed sexual material.
Other laws like this have gone into effect in Mississippi, Virginia and Utah. Learning from what happened in Louisiana, Pornhub decided to go dark in those states entirely. Instead, users will see a Safe for Work video in which adult actress Cherie DeVille explains why Pornhub does not support age verification as a way to keep minors safe online.
“While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving out your ID every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution to protecting our users,” she said in the video.
Sites like OnlyFans and Pornhub require adult performers to prove their age and identity to reduce non-consensual content and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). However, Pornhub remains at the center of many pre-existing sites Lawsuits Regarding CSAM. But other porn sites have fewer safeguards to ensure that actors do not upload exploitative content.
The Texas judge’s decision represents a departure from precedent set by other states. But several other bills related to online age verification, such as the Children’s Online Safety Act, are currently under consideration.
“We are pleased that the court agreed with our view that the true purpose of HB1181 is not to protect youth, but to prevent Texans from enjoying expression protected by the First Amendment,” Allison Boden, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, said in a statement. statement. “The state’s defense of the law was not based on science or technology, but on ideology and politics.”