Porn Sites Need Age-Verification Systems in Texas, Court Rules

The US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Texas to enforce an age-verification law for porn websites but barred the law’s compelled health warnings, applying rational-basis review and relying on Ginsberg v. New York. A dissent argued that Internet-related precedents (Reno v. ACLU, Ashcroft v. ACLU) require strict scrutiny; the ruling follows a temporary stay that let the law take effect in September 2023 amid challenges by Pornhub and the Free Speech Coalition.