A Texas Law required to pornographic sites to verify that its users are at least 18 years old can remain in force, according to the United States Supreme Court on Friday, June 27, concluding that the rule does not violate the Constitution.
In one Decision from 6 to 3most of the Court concluded that Texas has authority “to protect children from explicit sexual content”, and that this authority “necessarily includes the power to demand proof of age” to access said material.
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“Unlike a cashier in a store, an administrator of the website cannot see its visitors or estimate their age. Without an obligation to present age proof, even clearly identifiable as such could access sexual content without being detected,” says the court ruling.
Texas is one of the 24 states that have promulgated age verification laws to access pornography on the Internet in recent years. This ruling establishes a national precedent for lower courts that evaluate demands against similar laws in other states.
According to Texas’s Lawa website must verify the age of all users if “more than a third of the site content” is harmful sexual material for minors. In addition, the norm allows parents to sue sites if their children access pornographic content on a platform that does not comply with this law. Operators of these sites are not allowed to retain personal information after verification.
The law imposes fines of up to $ 10,000 per day to the sites that infring it, and an additional fine of $ 250,000 if a smaller access to pornographic content due to the lack of age verification.
“This is a great victory for children, parents and the ability of states to protect minors from the harmful effects of online pornography,” said Texas Attorney Ken Paxton, in A statement.
“Companies have no right to expose children to pornography and must implement reasonable measures for age verification. I will continue to enforce the law against any organization that refuses to take the necessary measures to protect minors,” he added.
Pornography producers sued the State in 2023 shortly after the law was promulgated, arguing that the norm imposes a burden on adults who wish to access that content and violates their right to freedom of expression protected by the first amendment. Through its guild, Free Speech Coalition, have also filed similar demands against other state laws.
After the ruling, Alison Boden, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, described in x The decision as “disastrous for Texans and for anyone who assesses freedom of expression and online privacy.”
The Court, however, did not accept that argument.
Thomas wrote that the law aims to “simply prevent minors” from accessing content, not adults. He acknowledged that there may be a burden for adults, but considered it “incidental,” and concluded that “adults do not have a right protected by the first amendment to avoid age verification.”
“The requirement of age verification is an ordinary and adequate means to enforce an age limit, as others demonstrate by other legal contexts that impose age limits and the generalized and undisputed practice of demanding age verification in face -to -face sales of obscene material for minors,” says the opinion.
Dani Pinter, the main legal advisor of the National Center for Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), told CNA – Ewtn News – that the argument of freedom of expression “challenges common sense”, and recalled that the verification of identity and age is a regular part of daily life.
Before the states promulgated these laws, Pinter said, very few pornographic sites had some type of age verification. “Many do absolutely nothing,” he explained, and others only ask to “click on a box that says you are 18 years or older.”
“Virtually no pornography site restricts access to minors,” he said.
Even in states with age verification laws, Pentr warned, “most sites have not complied”, although some have chosen to completely retire from those states. He said he hopes that the ratification of the Supreme Court reinforces compliance with the law and motivates more states – even to the federal government – to adopt similar measures to protect minors on the Internet.
The ruling, Pinter concluded, is “very historic” and “marks a new era with a clear path to protect children online.”
Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published in CNA.
Tyler Arnold
Tyler Arnold is a reporter of the National Catholic Register. He previously worked at The Center Square and has published in various media, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative and The Federalist.