Pornhub and other affiliated adult websites have blocked access to users in Texas, amid a legal battle with the Lone Star State’s attorney general over an age-verification law.
Last week, a federal appeals court upheld a Texas law requiring pornography sites to institute age-verification measures to ensure only adults 18 and older are able to access them, while it also struck down a part of the law requiring porn sites to display “health warnings” about the content.
That came after a previous federal judge’s ruling that the Texas law violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against free-speech restrictions.
A new message displayed to users with internet addresses in Texas on Pornhub (and other sites operated by parent company Aylo) explained that it was disabling access to comply with the law. Pornhub’s exit from Texas was first reported by 404 Media.
“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website.
Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors,” the message reads in part.
The Pornhub sites’ message continued, “Until the real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Texas. In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”
According to the message, “While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, providing identification every time you want to visit an adult platform is not an effective solution for protecting users online, and in fact, will put minors and your privacy at risk.
The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns.
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