Today, Attorney General Ken Paxton appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court to defend a Texas law designed to protect children from harmful online pornography. The law, passed in 2023 as House Bill 1181, mandates that online pornography sites verify users' ages to prevent minors from accessing obscene material.
After the bill's passage, pornography distributors filed a lawsuit against Texas. However, Attorney General Paxton secured a significant victory at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which allowed Texas to enforce HB 1181 during ongoing litigation. The companies then appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the Fifth Circuit's decision that upheld the law as not violating the First Amendment.
Texas was represented by Solicitor General Aaron Nielson at the Supreme Court. The state argued that distributing obscene content to children is not protected under the First Amendment and emphasized its interest in shielding minors from potential harm caused by such material.
"In Texas, we will protect our children and hold pornography companies accountable for the illicit content they distribute online," stated Attorney General Paxton. "Texas’s law does exactly that, by requiring porn sites to institute reasonable and non-burdensome age verification measures."
Attorney General Paxton has actively enforced this legislation while legal proceedings continue. He has taken action against Aylo Global Entertainment, which operates websites like Pornhub. In response to these requirements, Pornhub chose to cease operations in Texas rather than implement age verification protocols.