Major pornography website shuts down in Texas over age verification law

One of the internet’s most-visited pornography websites disabled access to Texas-based users on Thursday over objections to a state law that requires age verification for visitors to the site. A week ago, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned a lower court ruling blocking the law from taking effect.

The Houston Chronicle first reported the pornography company's decision, saying that any Texas-based user who visits the site now sees a message that criticizes the new law, calling it “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.” The statement also argues that the manufacturers of devices used to access the internet should be responsible for age verification rather than individual websites.

What does the law state? It requires online publishers whose content is more than one-third “sexual material harmful to minors” to use “reasonable” methods to verify that all visitors to the site are 18 or older. If a website fails to do so and a minor gains access to inappropriate content, the law holds the site “liable to the parent or guardian of the minor for damages resulting from a minor’s access to the material, including court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees as ordered by the court.”

What constitutes “reasonable” age verification? The law requires a government-issued ID or “a commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify the age of an individual.”

How is the law being enforced? Late last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the company that owns the pornography website, accusing the company of violating the age verification law and calling that violation “an ongoing threat to the public.” The lawsuit alleges that the company websites either presented pornography immediately upon loading or simply asked users to complete the “trivial step” of clicking “enter” to verify that they were over 18. The lawsuit says that step “cannot be said to verify anything at all.” It asks the court to fine the company $1.6 million for being out of compliance for 160 days.

Dig Deeper: Read Joseph Backholm’s column in WORLD Opinions examining whether age verification laws will define the division between red and blue states.