Supreme Court upholds Texas adult website age-verification law

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law aimed at restricting young people’s access to pornographic content online.

The justices in a 6-3 vote rejected a challenge brought by a pornography interest group called the Free Speech Coalition that said the measure violates the free speech rights of adults who want to access the content.

The law requires users of websites that host adult content to verify their age before they can access it. This requires the operator to view a government-issued identification, such as a driver’s license.

The law “simply requires established verification methods already in use by pornographic sites and other industries,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority.

It also “advances the state’s important interest in shielding children from sexually explicit material,” he added.

The challengers argued the law violates the Constitution’s First Amendment because it places a “content-based burden” on adults’ access to speech.

They cited a 2004 Supreme Court ruling that found a federal law also aimed at restricting access to pornography, called the Child Online Protection Act, was most likely unconstitutional.

A federal judge had ruled that the provision at issue was problematic because it did not merely restrict access to minors.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then ruled for Texas and refused to put its ruling on hold pending further review.

As a result of that ruling, some online pornography platforms, including Pornhub, prevented people in Texas from accessing their sites out of concern about the provision’s going into effect.

The Supreme Court in April 2024 declined to block the law while the case continued.