Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has turned up the heat on the adult entertainment industry by filing lawsuits against two prominent pornography websites, xHamster and Chaturbate, over alleged violations of the state’s age verification laws. The legal battle hinges on the sites’ compliance with House Bill 1181 (HB 1181), which requires that all pornographic websites operating in Texas implement a robust system to verify the age of their visitors to prevent minors from accessing explicit content.
Passed with bipartisan support, HB 1181 was slated for enforcement starting September 1st, but met immediate resistance from the pornography trade group Free Speech Coalition, which contended the law’s infringement on free speech protections. A federal judge in Austin concurred, determining that the legislation violated the First Amendment by discouraging adults from accessing sexually explicit yet legal content. U.S. District Judge David Ezra further expressed apprehensions regarding privacy due to the obligatory usage of government identification: “People will be particularly concerned about accessing controversial speech when the state government can log and track that access.”
However, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later overruled this decision, allowing Texas to enforce the law and stating it does not violate the First Amendment, aligning with Texas’ “legitimate interest in preventing minors’ access to pornography.”
The stakes for non-compliance are high, with possible daily fines of up to $10,000, plus an additional $250,000 if a minor is inadvertently exposed to pornographic material due to failure in age verification. It’s within this context that Paxton has set his sights on Multi Media, LLC and Hammy Media, the operators behind Chaturbate and xHamster, respectively.
Paxton’s determination to enforce HB 1181 has already made waves in the industry, as evidenced by the significant action taken by Pornhub earlier this year. Facing a lawsuit from Paxton for non-compliance with the age-verification law and a subsequent $1.6 million penalty, Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo USA Inc., chose to completely withdraw their services from the Texas market. In a statement, Pornhub expressed concerns over the law’s effectiveness, suggesting that while they comply, such regulations may push users towards “thousands of websites, with far fewer safety measures in place, which do not comply.”
The situation leaves the adult industry in a precarious position, balancing the protection of minors with the protection of privacy and free speech. As the Attorney General’s office puts it, “All pornography companies lacking proper age verification safeguards on their sites should consider themselves on notice because they’re violating Texas law.” Paxton’s litigation against xHamster and Chaturbate underscores a decisive moment for online content regulation, with Texas setting a potentially influential precedent for how adult content is accessed and governed in the digital age.
Relevant articles:
– Texas Sues xHamster and Chaturbate
– Following Pornhub’s shutdown, Texas AG sues 2 more porn sites over age-verification law, The Dallas Morning News, Fri, 22 Mar 2024 00:39:10 GMT
– 2 more porn companies being sued by Texas AG Ken Paxton for violating age verification law, KPRC Click2Houston, Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:49:36 GMT
– Texas AG sues more pornography distributors over age verification requirements, KEYE TV CBS Austin, Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:03:29 GMT