Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Pornhub’s parent company for allegedly violating state law by failing to implement age verification measures to be sure that children can’t access the adults-only site.
Aylo Global Entertainment has been accused of violating House Bill 1181, the Texas statute that was codified into law last 12 months and which requires porn sites to install reasonable measures to prevent those under 18 years old from viewing the specific material.
Paxton wants the state court to impose an injunction forcing Aylo to roll out an age-verification system that enables access only to those that use government-issued ID to prove that they’re of age.
“The age verification methods utilized by the Defendants on their web sites can’t be said to confirm anything in any respect, and wholly fail to comply with the necessities of” the law, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Travis County District Court.
The Post has sought comment from Aylo.
“Texas has a right to protect its children from the detrimental effects of pornographic content,” Paxton said in a news release.
“I look forward to holding any company accountable that violates our age verification laws intended to prevent minors from being exposed to harmful, obscene material on the web.”
Last fall, a federal judge struck down the law and blocked Paxton from enforcing it.
The judge agreed with claims that the law violated free speech rights and was overbroad and vague.
On appeal, nonetheless, one other federal judge overturned the lower court’s ruling and allowed the attorney general’s office to implement the law.
The present law fines web sites which might be deemed to be in noncompliance up to $10,000 a day.
Texas is one in every of several states which have pushed forward laws aimed toward cracking down on minors’ access to porn.
The Republican-led House of Delegates in West Virginia last month proposed laws requiring web users to present state-sponsored ID before gaining access to pornography.
The laws would require corporations with “materials harmful to minors” making up a “substantial portion” — or just a little over 33% — of its website offerings to perform ”reasonable age verification methods.”
In September, North Carolina’s legislature passed a bill requiring age verification on porn sites.
In Utah, a state law requiring adult web sites to confirm the age of their users stays in effect after a federal judge in August dismissed a lawsuit from an industry group difficult its constitutionality.
The judge noted the law does not direct the state to pursue or prosecute adult web sites and as an alternative gives Utah residents the ability to sue them and collect damages.
Similar laws were put in place in Louisiana, Virginia and Mississippi.
Pornhub retaliated by blocking access to its site for users based in Virginia, Mississippi and Utah.