cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/10033122
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify the age of their users.
The justices rejected an emergency appeal filed by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry. The provision of House Bill 1181, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, remains in effect even as the association’s full appeal is weighed by the Supreme Court.
There were no noted dissents from the court’s one-sentence order.
Similar age verification laws have passed in other states, including Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia.
The Texas law carries fines of up to $10,000 per violation that could be raised to up to $250,000 per violation by a minor.
The health warnings, disputed by the industry, included that pornography is addictive, impairs mental development and increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation and child sexual abuse images.
Uh wow. I didn’t even know about them trying to tack on these “health warnings” at all. Clownshoes. I wish my state would get it together.
Not to downplay the negative effects but I was addicted at one point and the worst thing I probably did was lie to my spouse about it. I would never consider sexual assault, molestation, or soliciting a prostitute because porn doesn’t cause these things at all.
Gone are the days you could find something harmful like porn in your parent’s bedroom when you’re a kid. Thank god all you can find nowadays are loaded, unsecured firearms.
