SCOTUS rules 6-3 states can protect kids from porn by requiring age verification

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 in favor of Texas in the case surrounding Texas' law requiring ID to watch adult content online. A group of people in the porn industry brought a challenge to the law, which made its way to the high court, arguing that the legal test of strict scrutiny should be applied.

The majority opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, stated, "Texas, like many States, prohibits the distribution of sexually explicit content to children. Tex. Penal Code Ann. §43.24(b) (West 2016). But, although that prohibition may be effective against brick-and-mortar stores, it has proved challenging to enforce against online content. In an effort to address this problem, Texas enacted H. B. 1181, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §129B.001 et seq. (West Cum. Supp. 2024), which requires certain commercial websites that publish sexually explicit content to verify the ages of their visitors. This requirement furthers the lawful end of preventing children from accessing sexually explicit content. But, it also burdens adult visitors of these websites, who all agree have a First Amendment right to access at least some of the content that the websites publish. We granted certiorari to decide whether these burdens likely render H. B. 1181 unconstitutional under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. We hold that they do not."