Court Rules in Pornhub’s Favor in Finding Texas Age-Verification Law Violates First Amendment

Score one for Pornhub: A federal judge ruled Thursday that a Texas law requiring pornography sites to institute age-verification measures — and add prominent warning labels about the alleged dangers of porn — violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against free-speech restrictions. In the Aug. 31 ruling, Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas wrote, “The Court finds that H.B. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit that sought the preliminary injunction blocking the Texas law included MG Freesites (operated by Pornhub’s parent company, which is now called Aylo), WebGroup Czech Republic, NKL Associates and MediaMe SRL. At least five other states have enacted similar age-verification laws aimed at blocking access to pornography sites: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah and Virginia. We have publicly supported mandatory age verification of viewers of adult content for years, but any method of age verification must preserve user privacy and safety.