On Jan. 15, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether Texas can continue enforcing age restriction requirements for pornography websites.

Texas House Bill 1181, enacted in June 2023 by a 164-1 vote, states that “A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material on an Internet website, including a social media platform, more than one-third of which is sexual material harmful to minors, shall use reasonable age verification methods … to verify that an individual attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older.”

Before the law went into effect, the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association of the pornography industry, filed suit against Texas, arguing the bill violated freedom of speech and users’ privacy rights. The law’s implementation was blocked by a federal district court in Texas until the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the injunction. But the bill’s mandate for pornography businesses to include warning labels such as “potentially biologically addictive” and “proven to harm brain development” did not stand.

The case Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton went to the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Some court observers believe the justices are poised to rule in the state’s favor. Texas’s legal team has argued that pornography harms children, citing statistics regarding the behavior and psychological harm children who view pornography experience. The state also stated that over half of children report they have viewed pornography by age 13, which, they said, shows a lack of adequate safeguards on such material.

Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow at the Family Research Council, spoke at a rally hosted by the American Principles Project before the hearing.

“The protection of children is a value shared by all civilized people,” Kilgannon said. “America needs to stop worrying about the ‘market access’ of corporations who want to profit off the exploitation of women and children. Americans need to stop listening to people who think that monetizing vice is a noble constitutional cause.”

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation filed an amicus brief supporting the law. Peter Gentala, the center’s senior legal counsel, gave a hopeful statement for Texas in the brief.

“There was broad consensus in the courtroom today that pornography is harmful to children and communities should have the ability to take reasonable steps to prevent children from accessing pornography,” Gentala said. “During the hearing, the pornography industry paid lip service to protecting kids but argued for a standard that doesn’t allow for communities to protect children. In other words, they want a repeat of the last 20 years—which has failed children.”

A ruling is expected by summer. Already, 19 other states have implemented laws with online pornography age restrictions.

Photo: Alamy