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Supreme Court Debates Texas Law Requiring Age Verification for Pornography Access Amid First Amendment Concerns

Jan 15, 2025, 07:18 PM

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments regarding a Texas law that mandates age verification for accessing pornography online. This law, enacted in 2023, requires websites with more than one-third of content deemed harmful to minors to verify the age of their visitors using digital identification or government-issued ID. The Supreme Court's review focuses on whether this law should be subject to strict scrutiny, the highest level of judicial review, or a less rigorous rational-basis test. The case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, pits the adult entertainment industry's First Amendment rights against the state's interest in protecting minors from explicit content. The justices appeared sympathetic to the state's arguments, with several suggesting that age verification could survive First Amendment scrutiny. However, concerns were raised about the law's potential to burden adults' access to protected speech and the effectiveness of alternative measures like content filtering. Notably, Pornhub has blocked access in Texas and other states with similar laws. Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized the changes in internet pornography since earlier rulings. Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Clarence Thomas, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Brett Kavanaugh all engaged in the debate, questioning the law's constitutionality and its impact on free speech. The court could either uphold the law or send it back to lower courts for further review under a clarified standard.