On Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding a Texas law that prompted one of the world’s most popular pornographic websites to block access for Texas residents.
Last March, KPRC 2’s Gage Goulding reported that Pornhub, a Canadian-owned erotica website, had decided to close its doors in the Lone Star State.
Recommended Videos
Over the last 10 months, people looking to conduct important research on the site using a device with a Texas IP address have been met with this message:
“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” the message reads in part. “Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”
OUR FIRST REPORT: Pornhub pulls out of Texas over state law forcing age verification of watchers
The website is referring to Texas HB 1181, a bill introduced back in 2023 that made it mandatory for pornographic websites to verify the age of consumers before allowing them to view obscene material.
In response, an injunction was filed against the state to block the enforcement of the law through early 2024.
However, last March, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of the state in a lawsuit filed by multiple pornography companies, allowing the law to go back into effect in Texas.
The law now allows Texas to enforce fines of up to $10,000 per day for websites that allow obscene material to be shown without age verification, as well as up to $250,000 in fines if minors have had access to the content.
Pornhub responded with the ban.
“PornHub has now disabled its website in Texas,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a post on X from last March. “Sites like PornHub are on the run because Texas has a law that aims to prevent them from showing harmful, obscene material to children.”
The website, however, claims that the law intrudes on Texans’ rights and gives the government unjust access to internet users’ private information.
Last March, the site indicated that its feud with Texas lawmakers was far from over.
“We will continue to fight for our industry and the performers that legally earn a living, and we will continue to appeal through all available judicial recourse to recognize that this law is unconstitutional,” said Alex Kekesi, the vice president of brand and community at Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company.