Current:Home > FinanceA federal judge strikes down a Texas law requiring age verification to view pornographic websites-InfoLens
A federal judge strikes down a Texas law requiring age verification to view pornographic websites
View Date:2024-12-23 19:48:25
A federal judge has struck down a Texas law requiring age verification and health warnings to view pornographic websites and blocked the state attorney general’s office from enforcing it.
In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Ezra agreed with claims that House Bill 1181, which was signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in June, violates free speech rights and is overbroad and vague.
The state attorney general’s office, which is defending the law, immediately filed notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
The lawsuit was filed Aug. 4 by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry and a person identified as Jane Doe and described as an adult entertainer on various adult sites, including Pornhub.
Judge Ezra also said the law, which was to take effect Friday, raises privacy concerns because a permissible age verification is using a traceable government-issued identification and the government has access to and is not required to delete the data.
“People will be particularly concerned about accessing controversial speech when the state government can log and track that access,” Ezra wrote. “By verifying information through government identification, the law will allow the government to peer into the most intimate and personal aspects of people’s lives.”
Ezra said Texas has a legitimate goal of protecting children from online sexual material, but noted other measures, including blocking and filtering software, exist.
“These methods are more effective and less restrictive in terms of protecting minors from adult content,” Ezra wrote.
The judge also found the law unconstitutionally compels speech by requiring adult sites to post health warnings they dispute — that pornography is addictive, impairs mental development and increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation and child sexual abuse images.
“The disclosures state scientific findings as a matter of fact, when in reality, they range from heavily contested to unsupported by the evidence,” Ezra wrote.
The Texas law is one of several similar age verification laws passed in other states, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana.
The Texas law carried fines of up to $10,000 per violation that could be raised to up to $250,000 per violation by a minor.
The Utah law was upheld by a federal judge who last month rejected a lawsuit challenging it.
Arkansas’ law, which would have required parental consent for children to create new social media accounts, was struck down by a federal judge Thursday and a lawsuit challenging the Louisiana law is pending.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Taylor Swift gifts 7-year-old '22' hat after promising to meet her when she was a baby
- The SAG Awards will stream Saturday live on Netflix. Here’s what to know
- South Carolina Welcomes Multibillion Dollar Electric Vehicle Projects, Even Though Many Echo Trump’s Harsh EV Critiques
- Watch this missing cat come wandering home
- Republican Gabe Evans ousts Democratic US Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado
- Brother of suspect in nursing student’s killing had fake green card, feds say
- Military officials say small balloon spotted over Western U.S. poses no security risk
- A Brewer on the Brewers? MLB player hopes dream becomes reality with Milwaukee
- A Pipeline Runs Through It
- An oil boom, a property slump and dental deflation
Ranking
- Up to 20 human skulls found in man's discarded bags, home in New Mexico
- Kouri Richins' hopes of flipping Utah mansion flop after she is charged in the death of her husband Eric
- Jimmy Butler ejected after Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans brawl; three others tossed
- Andy Cohen apologizes, denies sexually harassing Brandi Glanville in 2022 video call
- Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
- A search warrant reveals additional details about a nonbinary teen’s death in Oklahoma
- The 2004 SAG Awards Are a Necessary Dose of Nostalgia
- Single-engine plane crash in southern Ohio kill 3, sheriff’s office says; FAA, NTSB investigating
Recommendation
-
Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert Details “Full Circle” Reunion With Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried
-
Give It Up For the Best SAG Award Red Carpet Fashion Moments of All Time
-
19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw scores twice as USWNT downs Argentina in Gold Cup
-
Suni Lee, Olympic gymnastics champion, competing at Winter Cup. Here's how to watch.
-
Gerry Faust, former Notre Dame football coach, dies at 89
-
Assault claims roil Iditarod sled dog race as 2 top mushers are disqualified, then 1 reinstated
-
State police: Officers shoot, kill man who fired at them during domestic violence call
-
Brother of suspect in nursing student’s killing had fake green card, feds say