SCOTUS to hear appeal of Texas law for age verification on porn sites

The high court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments on overturning a Texas law that requires pornographic websites to verify the age of users. The law is meant to protect minors from accessing pornography. In response, a major pornographic website has blocked the access of all users from the state. Some opponents of the law argue it quells free speech and expression online. SCOTUS will hear arguments during its next session, which will begin in October.

State Gov. Greg Abbott enacted the law last year. Internet users in Texas must submit a government photo ID to confirm they are at least 18 years old before accessing pornographic material. Porn sites could be fined up to $10,000 for every day of operation without age verification, according to Texas law. The state could level an additional $250,000 against a website if a minor were able to access sexual material because the website lacked age verification.

On what grounds could such a law be challenged? The American Civil Liberties Union filed the case on behalf of the Free Speech Coalition, which describes itself as an adult industry trade organization. Requiring adults to give personal identifying information to access content is invasive and threatens all user privacy and speech rights, the ACLU has argued. Online age verification is not the same as flashing an ID at a check-out counter, FSC Executive Director Alison Boden said in a statement.

What are the case’s implications for other states? Several other states have enacted similar age verification laws, including Florida, Kentucky, and Louisiana. A district court in Indiana barred a pornography age verification law from going into effect on Monday, weeks after the Free Speech Coalition sued the state.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about efforts to protect minors from pornography.