A federal judge strikes down Texas law requiring age verification in victory for Pornhub after they claimed it violated free speech
- US District Judge David Ezra struck down law requiring age verification and health warnings to watch porn online
- Adult entertainment sites including Pornhub have opposed the Texas statute, which imposed fines of up to $250,000
- Judge Ezra also agreed with the claim that the law, which takes effect Friday, would impact user privacy
A federal judge has struck down a Texas law requiring age verification and health warnings to watch porn online, a win for sites like Pornhub.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra argued that the law signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in June violates free speech and is too broad and vague.
Adult entertainment sites, including Pornhub, have opposed the Texas statute, which imposed fines of up to $250,000, and similar laws in Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana.
The lawsuit in Texas was filed on August 4 by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry and a person identified as Jane Doe and described as an adult entertainer on several adult sites, including Pornhub.
Judge Ezra also agreed with claims that the law, which takes effect Friday, would impact users’ privacy since the proposed age-verification tool uses a trackable government-issued identifier.
A federal judge struck down a Texas law requiring age verification and health warnings to view porn online, a win for Pornhub
U.S. District Judge David Ezra argued that the law signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in June violates free speech and is too broad and vague.
Adult entertainment sites, including Pornhub, have opposed the Texas statute
The government has access to the identification and does not have to delete the data.
“People will be especially concerned about access to controversial speeches if the state government can log and track that access,” Ezra wrote.
“By verifying information through government identification, the law will allow the government to peer into the most intimate and personal aspects of people’s lives.”
Judge Ezra also objected to the law’s peremptory speech by requiring adult sites to post health warnings they dispute — that pornography is addictive, impairs mental development, and demand for images of prostitution, child exploitation, and child sexual abuse increases.
Ezra agreed that while Texas has a legitimate goal of protecting children from online sexual material, there are other measures available, including blocking and filtering software.
“These methods are more effective and less restrictive when it comes to protecting minors from adult content,” Ezra wrote.
A similar Arkansas law that would require parental consent for children to create new social media accounts was overturned by a federal judge on Thursday, and a lawsuit against another Louisiana law is pending.
However, a similar law from Utah was upheld by a federal judge, who last month dismissed a lawsuit against the law.