A trade group representing the adult film industry is asking the Supreme Court to block a Texas law requiring adult sites to verify the age of users, arguing that it violates the sites' First Amendment rights.
Friday's filing asks the Supreme Court to halt enforcement of the law while the justices consider whether to file a full appeal of the bill.
State law requires sites to verify that users in Texas are at least 18 years old before accessing pornography, citing the content as harmful. The Free Speech Coalition, an industry group, says the age verification law is “ineffective, unconstitutional and dangerous.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supports the lawsuit, saying the Texas law “imposes an undue burden on free speech online.”
“While purporting to limit minors’ access to online sexual content, this law actually imposes significant burdens on adults’ access to constitutionally protected expression. , requiring individuals to provide personally identifying information online to access sensitive and intimate content,” ACLU attorneys said. Vera Eidelman wrote in her statement:
A district court ruled the law unconstitutional in September, but it was overturned by an appeals court last month.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) also sued porn giant Airo, which owns Pornhub and other websites, in February for failing to follow the law. The company revoked access to the Pornhub site in Texas after an appeals court overturned a lower court ruling.
The Supreme Court has criticized past attempts to restrict access to adult content, including a 1997 case over internet pornography. In a new filing, the plaintiffs argued that the appellate decision is in direct contradiction to precedent and should be stayed until the high court considers a full appeal.
The ACLU argued that the appeals court relied on a 1968 precedent, rather than recent cases involving Internet content, to justify the law.
“This Court's denial of precedent is both surprising and unsound,” the plaintiffs wrote in their filing.
The court ordered Texas to comply with the request for a moratorium by April 26.
At least eight other states (Kansas, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Utah and Virginia) have age verification laws in place starting in 2022, according to the Associated Press. Lawmakers have introduced proposals in more than 20 other states.
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