Score one for Pornhub: A federal judge ruled Thursday that a Texas law requiring pornography sites to institute age-verification measures and add prominent warning labels about the alleged dangers of porn violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against free-speech restrictions.
A lawsuit seeking to overturn the Texas legislation was filed Aug. 4 by the Free Speech Coalition, a group that included Pornhub’s parent company, adult industry advocacy groups and an adult performer (referred to in filings as “Jane Doe”).
Under the Texas law, which was set to go into effect Sept. 1, 2023, porn sites would have been required to use “reasonable age verification methods” to “verify that an individual attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older.” In addition, pornography sites would have been forced to display a “Texas Health and Human Services Warning” in at least 14-point font — one of which was specified to read, “Pornography increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation, and child pornography” — along with a national toll-free number for people with mental health disorders. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed H.B. 1181 into law on June 12.
In the Aug. 31 ruling, Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas wrote, “The Court finds that H.B. 1181 is unconstitutional on its face.” The ruling enjoined Angela Colmenero, Texas’ acting attorney general, from taking any enforcement action under H.B. 1181 “pending further order or final judgment.”
“The statute is not narrowly tailored and chills the speech of Plaintiffs and adults who wish to access sexual materials,” Ezra said in the decision. “[T]he law is not narrowly tailored because it substantially regulates protected speech, is severely underinclusive, and uses overly restrictive enforcement methods.”
A copy of the decision is available at this link. MG Freesites (operated by Pornhub’s parent company, which is now called Aylo), WebGroup Czech Republic, NKL Associates and MediaMe SRL.
At least five other states have enacted similar age-verification laws aimed at blocking access to pornography sites: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah and Virginia.
Pornhub’s parent company, MindGeek, was sold to Canadian private-equity firm Ethical Capital Partners earlier this year. ECP has since changed the name of MindGeek to Aylo, saying the rebranding would give it a “fresh start.”
