Texas sues Pornhub parent company for allegedly failing to block access to minors
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Pornhub’s parent company for allegedly violating state law by failing to implement age verification measures to ensure 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 year and which requires porn sites to install reasonable measures to prevent those under 18 years old from viewing the explicit material.
Paxton wants the state court to impose an injunction forcing Aylo to roll out an age-verification system that allows access only to those who use government-issued ID to prove that they are of age.
“The age verification methods used by the Defendants on their websites cannot be said to verify anything at all, and wholly fail to comply with the requirements 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 internet.”
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, however, another federal judge overturned the lower court’s ruling and allowed the attorney general’s office to enforce the law.
The current law fines websites that are deemed to be in noncompliance up to $10,000 a day.
Texas is one of several states that have pushed forward legislation aimed at cracking down on minors’ access to porn.
The Republican-led House of Delegates in West Virginia last month proposed legislation requiring internet users to present state-sponsored ID before gaining access to pornography.
The legislation would require companies with “materials harmful to minors” making up a “substantial portion” — or 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 websites to verify the age of their users remains in effect after a federal judge in August dismissed a lawsuit from an industry group challenging its constitutionality.
The judge noted the law does not direct the state to pursue or prosecute adult websites and instead gives Utah residents the power 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.
