Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a legal victory after a federal district court upheld a state law requiring commercial pornography websites to utilize robust age-verification methods to prevent minors from accessing explicit content.
The court’s decision dismissed a constitutional challenge brought by the Free Speech Coalition, which had sought to block enforcement of the statute.
The law, passed as House Bill 1181 during the 88th Texas Legislature, mandates that any commercial entity distributing material harmful to minors must verify the user’s age using independent, third-party digital recognition or a government-issued identification card.
Under the law, companies that fail to implement these verifications face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day, which can escalate to $250,000 if a minor is successfully able to access the restricted content.
The ongoing litigation in Texas trails a landmark broader precedent set by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the case Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, the high court ruled 6-3 that online age-gate requirements are a constitutionally permissible exercise of state authority to shield children from explicit materials.
The Supreme Court’s majority determined that the regulation passes intermediate constitutional scrutiny because checking identification online simply adapts traditional, in-person age restrictions to the modern digital era and places only an incidental burden on the First Amendment rights of adults.
In the localized district ruling, the court rejected the operators’ remaining arguments that the law violated First Amendment protections, concluding that the state possesses a compelling interest in protecting children from online harm.
Paxton said that the decision is a massive victory for Texas families and a critical step toward holding predatory online platforms accountable. He said that his office will continue to enforce the statutory requirements to ensure the digital safety and well-being of Texas children.