If you’re a Texan, get ready for your late-night spicy “research” sessions to get a lot trickier. The Supreme Court just handed down their decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, and the court has sided with the State of Texas. H.B. 1181 demands stricter age verification for adult websites, and those pushing for the law have been approaching it from an angle of “won’t someone think of the children!” Alas, this move sounds like it’s well intended, but it doesn’t so much address child safety as it completely screws over the adult entertainment industry.
The basics of the situation are this: the Free Speech Coalition challenged Texas’ H.B. 1181 on behalf of the adult entertainment industry, claiming that the law violates free speech. SCOTUS handed down their decision, and they sided 6–3 in favor of upholding the law, with Justice Clarence Thomas blazing the way. The logic they used to justify their decision was that age verification only “incidentally” limits adult freedom of expression, and thus it passes muster when under intermediate scrutiny. Basically, the Supreme Court has decided that forking over your official ID in order to access spicy content is just one of the minor pitfalls of all that freedom we so enjoy.
Paxton and his conservative-leaning colleagues insist that H.B. 1181 shields tiny humans from porn by requiring age verification in order to access sites that host saucy content, but there’s just a bit of an issue. The law completely ignores much larger threats to children that are consistent problems cropping up online. Minors are considered low-hanging fruit on the social media and gaming trees. Predators are easily able to lurk on these platforms and coerce youngins into situations that can very easily lead to grooming scenarios. Also, that whole age verification thing? Doesn’t actually work as well as you’d think it would. So while little Timmy’s playing Fortnite and dodging creepy messages that he doesn’t necessarily know are setting him up to be exploited, he’s also managed to bypass Pornhub’s age verification process thanks to his dad’s VPN and official ID. The law’s focus on making stricter age verification measures is akin to brushing your teeth while eating an Oreo.
This ruling may only apply to Texas, but there are nearly 20 states that have similar laws or proposals in place. Basically, the dominoes were lined up, and SCOTUS just knocked over the first one. For the adult industry, this is going to be a HUGE pain in the tuchus. Being in compliance with age verification laws is a pricey operation (think ID systems, data storage, etc.). This has the potential to squash smaller operations, meaning that only bigger sites will be left standing. There are privacy fears for users, too. Hackers love a large database of adult site logins, meaning that users who have been showing up and interacting on adults-only sites consistently may find themselves choosing to opt out due to fear of being exposed as a consumer of adult content. Incognito mode can only help you so much, leaving users wondering… does their browser history need its own lawyer? SCOTUS siding with H.B. 1181 opens up more potential for more lawsuits, more pushback from users, and a possible spike in VPNs as users look for ways to dodge the restrictions.
In short, the Supreme Court may have sided with Texas and agreed that children need protecting, but the efficacy of this law leaves something to be desired. H.B. 1181 doesn’t protect the kids so much as it seems like a puritanical plot to make online fun that is intended for adults only into a bureaucratic nightmare. How will the adult entertainment industry intend to adjust to this new reality? Stay tuned.
