The U.S. Supreme Court recently considered Texas H.B. 1181, a law that requires age verification on adult content websites. The law compels platforms with more than one-third of the content labeled “harmful to minors” to have “reasonable age verification methods,” and failing to do so incurs a $1,000 daily fine. The Free Speech Coalition, which represents the adult entertainment industry, challenged the law, claiming it violates the First Amendment.
Initially, Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra blocked the law, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision and temporarily allowed its enforcement. The Supreme Court rejected reinstatement in April 2024 but agreed to review the decision of the Fifth Circuit in July. The decision of the Court is expected to be made by June 2025 and would have a big impact on regulating digital content as well as freedom of speech.
Justice Alito Compares PornHub to Playboy
During the hearing, Justice Samuel Alito grabbed everyone’s attention with an unexpected question about PornHub’s content, comparing it to the old Playboy magazine. Addressing Free Speech Coalition attorney Derek Shaffer, Alito asked, “Is it like the old Playboy magazine? You have essays there by the modern-day equivalent of Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Junior? “Not in that sense, but in the sense [that] you have sexual wellness posts about women recovering from hysterectomies and how they can enjoy sex. That’s on there.
Discussion on age verification proposals and where the industry lines up as far as what they think should be legislated and what should not.
Social Media Reactions
Justice Alito’s comment within a few hours found their way into social media where there was that mix of humor and criticism in the comments. Playboy articles were practically labelled as cultural monuments. Some people joked by saying, “There’s no way Alito read Playboy for the articles in his day.” Others attacked Alito’s familiarity with modern adult sites, commenting about the following statement, “Are we seriously supposed to believe that Samuel Alito is not intimately familiar with the content available on PornHub dot com?”
Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton is an interesting case as it has a bearing on how digital content regulation is being rewritten and First Amendment rights are being impacted. All eyes are glued to the deliberations of the Supreme Court to provide a landmark ruling that can define new ground rules for managing explicit material by online platforms.
