Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is fighting to uphold a Texas law that he says prevents the porn industry from providing harmful content to children.
The law, passed in 2023 and signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, requires porn sites to verify users' age through official documentation such as a driver's license or government-issued ID. By law, failure to perform this age verification will result in a fine.
Meanwhile, some porn sites calling themselves the Free Speech Alliance argue that the Texas law limits their First Amendment rights and places an undue burden on Texas adults accessing their content.
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Dozens of plaintiffs have accused Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek of profiting from sexual abuse. (Adrien Fillon/NurPhoto)
Pornhub, the most popular adult content website in the United States, even banned all users in Texas from accessing its site after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold the law.
Both sides finally came face to face on Wednesday to present their cases to the Supreme Court.
For its part, the U.S. Supreme Court appears to have unanimously agreed with Paxton's argument that states have a vested interest in limiting children's access to pornography. However, some judges still appear concerned about whether the Texas law's ban is too broad and could affect free speech in other areas.
The question now before the court is whether the Texas law should be subject to "reasonable basis" or "strict scrutiny" review, the latter of which would require Texas to meet the most stringent standards to uphold age verification requirements.
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The U.S. Supreme Court will be held in Washington on November 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Whatever the court rules, it could affect not just Texas law but more than a dozen other porn site age verification laws in states across the country.
In an interview with Fox News Digital after the hearing, Paxton said he believed the Supreme Court would rule in favor of Texas.
"Hearing the questions and comments from the judges, I feel very optimistic that we're going to win this," he said. "I really feel good about it. I think most judges will be on the right side."
“Even the other side making the argument acknowledges that we have an interest in protecting minors,” he continued. "They just said it would be some kind of burden on adults for us to do this, so they made other suggestions that didn't actually work, which is probably why they made those suggestions, they didn't want age verification because it did It’s effective and it’s impacting their bottom line.”
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Exterior of the Texas State Capitol Building on September 5, 2023 in Austin, Texas. The Senate impeachment trial of former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton begins today, with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick presiding. Paxton faces multiple charges, including bribery, false statements and abuse of public trust. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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Responding to criticism that the law could infringe on free speech, Paxton said: "Look, I'm a huge advocate for free speech. I think there are very few restrictions on free speech. However, we have recognized that we need to "We don't let them sign contracts, we don't let them get married before they're 18, we don't let them drink, we don't let them smoke, we have protected children, that's our whole thing. history. "
"If you look anywhere in the developed world or elsewhere, children are protected," he added. "It's my job to enforce Texas law. In this case, I'm happy to protect our children from this situation."