Judge strikes down Texas porn age verification law : NPR

A law requiring age verification for people visiting porn sites in Texas has been struck down by a judge who says it does not protect minors from viewing sexually explicit material.

Wilfredo Lee/AP

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Wilfredo Lee/AP

A law requiring age verification for people visiting porn sites in Texas has been struck down by a judge who says it does not protect minors from viewing sexually explicit material.

Wilfredo Lee/AP

A federal judge has blocked a Texas law requiring age verification and a health warning for viewing pornographic websites, a day before the law takes effect.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra found the law violated First Amendment free speech rights and was too vague, in a ruling on Thursday in favor of the Free Speech Coalition, a media industry trade association. adult entertainment who filed the complaint.

Ezra said the age verification component in Bill 1181, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, “is constitutionally problematic because it deters adult access to lawful sexually explicit material, well beyond interest in the protection of minors”.

The judge’s decision prevents the state’s attorney general, the defendant in this case, from applying the law. The attorney general’s office filed a notice of appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana.

Ezra said age verification also raises privacy issues. One of the two methods allowed by law to verify age is government-issued identification; Since the government is not required to delete data regarding access, the decision states, “People will be particularly concerned about access to controversial speech when the state government can record and track that access. . »

“Indeed, the law risks forcing individuals to disclose specific details about their sexuality to the state government to gain access to certain speeches,” Ezra added.

Having to identify yourself to access a gay porn site, for example, could be particularly troubling in a state that still hasn’t repealed a law banning sodomy, as the judgment points out.

“Given the current criminalization of same-sex activity in Texas, it is apparent that individuals wishing to view homosexual material will be profoundly deterred from doing so if they must first positively identify themselves to the state,” says the jugement.

Beyond state surveillance concerns, the ruling also notes the chilling effects caused by threats to disclose sensitive information through potential leaks or hacks.

In addition to age verification, the law also requires porn sites to post warnings about the alleged psychological dangers of porn viewing, as well as the number of a hotline for people with alcohol-related issues. mental health and addiction.

Although the warnings are labeled “Texas Health and Human Services,” the ruling says, it’s not clear that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced such findings.

Judge said ‘the state provides virtually no evidence that this is an effective method of combating children’s access to sexual materials’ and that the warnings contain language that most minors do not wouldn’t understand.

Louisiana’s law on age verification of porn sites, which took effect in January, started a wave of similar legislation in several states. Texas is the latest of at least six states to pass such a law. As in Louisiana, Texas law would apply to websites where one-third of the content is considered pornographic.

Social media sites, however, would be exempt from age restrictions because they likely do not meet the third-party standard for sexual content, the ruling says. This leaves minors free to view porn on Reddit communities, Tumblr blogs and Instagram pages, for example, dedicated to explicit sexual content, the judge said. Performing image searches on search engines would also not be restricted by law.

“Although the state defends HB 1181 as protecting minors, it is not suited for that purpose,” Ezra said. “It theoretically attempts to prevent minors from accessing pornography, but contains substantial exemptions, including material most likely to serve as a gateway to pornography use.”