The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law that restricts minors under the age of 18 from accessing online pornography, marking a major development in the growing legal push to limit youth exposure to explicit content.
The decision reinforces efforts by nearly half of all U.S. states that have passed similar age-verification laws in response to the increasing availability of hardcore content on smartphones and digital platforms.
Why It Matters
Many adult sites still use outdated, limited age verification tools which are easily bypassed by users of any age. States have moved to change this, with 24 introducing laws that require more stringent verification methods, which a majority of Americans have shown support for in polling by SCOTUSPoll.
What To Know
The ruling stems from a challenge by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade group representing the adult-entertainment industry, which argued that the law places an unconstitutional burden on adults by requiring them to provide personal information that could be subject to data breaches or surveillance.
While the group acknowledged that children shouldn’t have access to porn, it warned the law risks infringing on the rights of legal-age viewers. Some adult websites, including Pornhub, a leading adult-content website, have already pulled out of states with similar restrictions, citing privacy and logistical concerns.
In defending the law, Texas argued that modern technology allows for quick and secure age verification, such as facial recognition or digital ID checks—measures it likens to those long upheld by the Court in cases involving in-person adult establishments.
The justices appeared persuaded by the claim that today’s tools are less intrusive than earlier federal laws struck down in past decades for being overly broad or restrictive. This decision could pave the way for more aggressive regulation of online adult content aimed at shielding minors while raising new questions about digital privacy and First Amendment protections.
The Court has confronted the issue before. In 1996, it struck down parts of a law banning explicit material viewable by kids online. A divided court also ruled against a different federal law aimed at stopping kids from being exposed to porn in 2004 but said less restrictive measures like content filtering are constitutional.
Texas argues that technology has improved significantly in the last 20 years, allowing online platforms to easily check users’ ages with a quick picture. Those requirements are more like ID checks at brick-and-mortar adult stores that were upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1960s, the state said.
District courts initially blocked laws in Indiana and Tennessee as well as Texas, but appeals courts reversed the decisions and let the laws take effect.
From left, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, listen as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
Associated Press
What People Are Saying
Head of Regulatory and Public Affairs at Verifymy Lina Ghazal who submitted a filing in the case, said in a statement shared with Newsweek: “Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court clears a key obstacle in the path to a safer internet. It will reassure parents across Texas about the type of content their children can access online and lay out a legislative blueprint for other states to follow to keep explicit material in the hands of adults only.
“Online platforms have been allowed to rely on users self-reporting their age for too long, leaving the door ajar for children to spaces they are not mature enough to navigate. Robust age checks are a common-sense safeguard that put the online and offline world on the same footing.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in a press release: “This is a major victory for children, parents, and the ability of states to protect minors from the damaging effects of online pornography. Companies have no right to expose children to pornography and must institute reasonable age verification measures. I will continue to enforce the law against any organization that refuses to take the necessary steps to protect minors from explicit materials.”
What Happens Next?
Companies violating Texas’ new law are now subjected to fines of $250,000 if a child is exposed to pornographic content because age was not properly verified. They can also be fined up to $10,000 per day, along with another $10,000 per day if identifying information is retained by said company.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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