ACLU: SCOTUS Should Block Texas Age-Verification Law

A Texas anti-porn law violates the First Amendment by requiring websites to verify users’ ages, the Free Speech Coalition said at the U.S. Supreme Court. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief Monday on behalf of the FSC, a pornography industry trade association. The U.S. District Court in Austin agreed in August 2023 to block the law (HB-1181), one day before its Sept. 1 effective date. U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra found the law likely violates the First Amendment rights of adults trying to access constitutionally protected speech. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partially vacated the injunction, finding the age-verification requirements constitutional. SCOTUS in July agreed to hear the case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (docket 23-1122) (see 2407020033). “Under strict scrutiny, this is a straightforward case,” said the coalition’s brief: The Texas law “is both overinclusive and underinclusive, and it fails to pursue its objective with the means least restrictive of adults’ protected speech.” The coalition added, “Restoring the preliminary injunction … would not undermine genuine efforts to limit minors’ access to sexually inappropriate material.” Adults “have a First Amendment right to read about sexual health, see R-rated movies, watch porn, and otherwise access information about sex if they want to," said Vera Eidelman, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project staff attorney. “They should be allowed to exercise that right as they see fit, without having to worry about exposing their personal identifying information in the process.”