The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that it would uphold Texas law requiring websites with “sexual material that is harmful to minors” to verify the age of all visitors. The Free Speech Union (FSC), an industry association for the adult industry, has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who challenges the state’s age verification laws.
“The authority to request age verification is within the power of the state to prevent children from accessing sexually explicit content,” Judge Clarence Thomas wrote in the court’s opinion. The court upheld the 6-3 side in favor of Paxton, in dissenting opinions from Justice Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Kentaji Brown Jackson.
Validation of age in this context does not mean unconsciously clicking on the box to declare you an adult. That means uploading government ID documents or verifying your age using a third-party verification platform.
This decision has far-reaching implications for internet privacy. Eight states have already enacted laws requiring age verification to access such websites, but six additional states have passed laws that have not yet been enacted. Texas law challenged by the FSC defines porn websites as at least a third of their content being deemed “harmful to minors.”
Advocates of Internet privacy have long criticised these age checks for the possibility that verification companies could compromise their users’ digital security, even if they vow not to retain identification information. In some cases, these age checks are carried out through government tools and it is not unusual for hackers to violate government databases.
When LGBTQ rights are under attack in the United States, activists have used such laws to classify non-pornographic information and basic sex education about the LGBTQ community, protesting that it is “sexual substances harmful to minors.” These concerns seem well-founded, given that President Trump’s administration has removed references to civil rights movements and LGBTQ history from several government websites.
The original Texas Era Verification Act, HB 1181, was passed at the same time that it imposed other legal restrictions on the LGBTQ community, including limiting public drug shows and banning gender-connected care for minors. Drug Show law was later deemed unconstitutional for violating the First Amendment.
This story is developing.
