AUSTIN, TX — Today, the adult content platform Pornhub has taken measures to block access from Texas, citing a recent legislative enactment that came into force in September 2023. This legislation, contested by Pornhub, was challenged on grounds of First Amendment violations, but an appeals court dismissed the argument.
During the 88th Legislative Session in 2023, the Texas House, led by Speaker Made Phelan, passed HB 1181, which introduced regulations on adult content websites. These regulations required operators to authenticate the age of their users and mandated the display of health advisories regarding the impact of consuming adult content.
State Senator Angela Paxton spearheaded the bill in the Texas Senate, with support from Texas State Representatives Matthew Shaheen (R), Nate Schatzline (R), Nicole Collier (D), Claudia Ordaz Perez (D), and Jared Patterson (R). The bill was passed in May 2023, and Governor Greg Abbott signed it into law on June 12, 2023, with implementation scheduled for September 1, 2023. State Rep. Drew Darby voted in favor, alongside a majority of the Texas House, with a vote of 133-1. Maria "LuLu" Maria Flores of Austin was the sole Democrat voting against the bill, while others were either absent or abstained.
Following the law's enactment, Pornhub and other entities initiated legal action against Texas. Attorney General Ken Paxton promptly pursued the case, appealing the lawsuit at the district court level, where an injunction was issued against the state, halting enforcement of the law. Paxton further contested the case at the U.S. 5th Circuit of Appeals, resulting in a partial victory, with the court deeming the age verification requirements constitutional.
"Applying rational-basis review, the age-verification requirement is rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in preventing minors’ access to adult content," the court stated. "Therefore, the age-verification requirement does not violate the First Amendment."
However, the appeals court upheld the injunction regarding the law's stipulation for health and safety warnings on adult content websites like Pornhub.
Pornhub boasts a substantial global presence. According to SimilarWeb data between December 2023 and February 2024, the platform garnered 6.7 billion visits, with 27.7 percent originating from within the United States.
Pornhub's message informing viewers the website is blocked from Texas.
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Comments
They're restricting access to everything?? Even the shokushu and the futanari?? What about lactation and feet content?? Do Texan content creators still get paid?? WHY, TEXAS?? WHY DID YOU MAKE THEM DO THIS??
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PermalinkWell, I'm shocked and appalled! I can't imagine why they don't want children looking at porn sites. IDIOTS! I'm required to provide info on my age when I look at gun and ammo sites. Why is no one complaining about that?
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PermalinkYours is a valid question. Mine is: How does a site verify that someone is truly what age they claim to be when they answer a question regarding their age? Does that site request corroborating information? If so, what information? Should someone feel safe in providing such information and possibly making it visible to all kinds of folks? I'm not trying to be a smartass. I'm just trying to understand how age-sensitive sites can deal with this issue.
Parents' giving their kids smart phones and/or allowing unsupervised access to PCs/laptops/iPads doesn't help.
By the way, I don't care for anyone under the age of 18 being able to view porn. That stuff can twist the minds of adults, let alone the minds of those with their minds still taking shape. Viewing porn is NOT a good way for young minds to develop a constructive view of sexual relations among adults.
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PermalinkThis isn't Iraq, Texas! This is our divinely granted right written in the Geneva convention and the constitution, the magna carta, the D&D dungeon master's guide, one of the 2017 issues of Cosmo, our spinster aunt's diary, etc.
It was one thing when you wanted to build a wall to keep our pretentious &/or criminal family members from coming stateside and constantly pestering us with irritating questions and suggestions that we had hoped to avoid via a strong international boundary. But now you bring us more judgment, more condemnation, more restrictions on the curious amount of time we've been spending alone in our bedrooms. (WE'VE JUST BEEN RESTING IT ISN'T A BIG DEAL!)
We must now all make a 180° turn in order to protect our rights! (This isn't about porn!) This is what Abraham Lincoln died for. Martin Luther King. This is the freedom a past generation fought for in WWII. This is literally "The Handmaid's Tale," and we have been tied up by the State of Texas.
There we are, strapped down to the table, gagged, helpless, the ropes of legal restriction tightly binding our body to the table as Texas stands above us, his menacing smirk plastered beneath his sunglasses as his muscular arms are crossed across his hairy, oily chest, his upper body glistening in the sun.
And Texas isn't going to let up, guys! This is absolutely relenteless! This scandalous violation of our vulnerable rights should shock and pain us all!
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PermalinkLawmakers are pretty stupid. They forgot the other 21 adult websites which are still available without age verification....
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PermalinkIt's a start.
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PermalinkOf course there is no way to verify the age of someone looking at a website unless you are standing there beside them. The reason I posted my smartass remarks is I'm fed up with all the morons in the world that believe kids have the maturity to make their own decisions about things such as looking at porn, deciding what they do and don't want to learn about in school, making a life changing decision about what gender they would like to be and no telling what else. These same kids can't buy a beer, vote, drive a car, buy a gun or many other things. The reason is they are still kids.
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PermalinkI wonder how bad the next generation has to be in order for the majority of parents to realize that drastic change in what and how children learn and who they learn it from is necessary to have a functioning society? There will be costs to inaction as well as wrong action.
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PermalinkWhat ill effects could ubiquitous pornography, ever increasing in variegation and intensity, possibly have on future generations or the world as a whole?
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