Appeals court sides with Texas in lawsuit over law requiring age-verification for porn sites

An appeals court ruled in favor of Texas in a lawsuit filed by online porn companies over a state law requiring age-verification for users.

The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court's ruling means the state can require adult websites to implement an age-verification system for users to safeguard minors.

A coalition of adult sites sued the state over the law and obtained a temporary injunction from a lower court to delay implementation of the law.

House Bill 1181, which was slated to take effect in Sept. 2023, requires commercial entities that show sexual material to "use reasonable age verification methods […] to verify that an individual attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older."

Companies that do not comply could be fined up to $10,000 per day, $10,000 more per day if the company illegally retains identifying information and $250,000 if a child views pornographic content without proper verification.

The sites claim it violates free speech.

The porn companies are expected to appeal the ruling.

Paxton sued the owner of the website Pornhub and several other pornographic sites in a Travis County court last month.

No action has been taken in that case.