WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block a Texas law that requires porn sites to verify the age of their users.
The justices rejected an emergency appeal filed by the Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment industry trade association. The provision in House Bill 1181, signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, remains in effect even when the association’s full appeal is heard by the Supreme Court.
There were no noted dissents from the court’s one-sentence order.
Similar age verification laws have passed in other statesincluding Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia.
Texas law provides fines of up to $10,000 per violation, which can be increased to up to $250,000 for a violation committed by a minor.
Last year, a federal judge blocked legal requirements for age verification and health warnings, concluding they likely violated the Constitution. But in March, a divided panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the age verification decision, although it upheld the ruling on health warnings that adult websites cannot be forced to publish statements with which they disagree.
The health warnings, disputed by the industry, included that pornography is addictive, harms mental development and increases the demand for images of prostitution, child exploitation and child sexual abuse.
