At the Supreme Court, the porn industry fights viewer age checks

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard attorneys for the pornography industry argue that adult viewers should not bear any burden in order to protect children from harmful content. The state of Texas in 2023 passed a law requiring pornographic sites to verify that their users were over the age of 18 using means such as a photo ID or credit card information. Texas did so to protect children from the harmful effects of pornography, the state argued in a legal brief. The pornography industry sued, alleging the law infringed on adults’ First Amendment rights to access free speech. Eighteen other states have passed similar laws.

What questions did justices have for the pornography industry? All of the justices seemed to present a hostile front to attorney Derek Shaffer, who was arguing on behalf of the porn industry. Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked him if there was a difference between checking an ID at a brick-and-mortar store and verifying someone’s age online. Shaffer argued that online age verification systems posed more security risks for individuals providing proof of their age. Justices questioned why Shaffer claimed not to know what the second-most common porn site was in the United States, while he was representing the pornography industry.

What did the state of Texas have to say? Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson argued that no one disputed the fact that pornography was harmful to children—and that children were currently accessing it. Age verification was simple, effective, and did not jeopardize adults’ privacy, Nielson argued. To explain how age verification software didn’t jeopardize the safety or privacy of users, he referred the justices to a friend of the court brief filed by the Age Verification Providers Association. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pushed back, probing whether age verification software did still infringe on adults’ freedoms.