Supreme Court Weighs Texas Age-Verification Law for Pornographic Websites

The case could reshape First Amendment protections for online sexual content and set a precedent for internet regulation nationwide.

• The Supreme Court heard arguments on a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify users' ages, with implications for similar laws in 19 other states.
• Conservative justices questioned the effectiveness of content filtering, arguing that technological advances may necessitate revisiting prior precedents on internet speech protections.
• The court debated whether to apply strict scrutiny or a less rigorous standard to the law, with some justices suggesting a middle-ground approach to balance protecting minors and adults' free speech rights.
• Critics, including the Free Speech Coalition, argue the law infringes on adults' privacy and First Amendment rights while being ineffective due to workarounds like VPNs.
• A decision, expected by June, could influence future regulations on social media and other online platforms beyond pornography.

55 Articles

Axios Newsweek Hindustan Times People Washington Examiner Rolling Stone HuffPost The Verge The Hill New York Post Futurism Houston Chronicle ABC News MSNBC The Daily Beast PBS NewsHour The Independent Mediaite The New Republic CNN SCOTUSblog Gizmodo Raw Story Tech Xplore Los Angeles Times Newsweek Ars Technica Salon Blaze Media Vox The Hill USA TODAY Washington Examiner mint Reason.com The Daily Signal The Intercept Newsweek Roll Call CNN Houston Public Media Associated Press MSNBC NBC News ABC News USA TODAY Houston Chronicle EL PAÍS National Constitution Center The Free Press UPI American Civil Liberties Union Associated Press