Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a major pornography distributer for failing to comply with a new state law requiring age verification for internet pornography.
House Bill 1181, which went into effect in November, requires commercial porn websites to use “reasonable” methods to verify that users are at least 18 years of age before they access X-rated content online.
Pornhub—the largest online platform for sharing sex videos—had sued Texas along with other pro-porn plaintiffs to keep HB 1181 from taking effect. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, said the state could enforce the new law.
Now Paxton is suing Aylo Global—the pornography conglomerate that owns Pornhub—accusing them of violating the law.
“Texas has a right to protect its children from the detrimental effects of pornographic content,” said Paxton. “I look forward to holding any company accountable that violates our age verification laws intended to prevent minors from being exposed to harmful, obscene material on the internet.”
If it is found that they violated the law, the porn provider could be subject to millions of dollars in fines.
According to the AG’s office, companies violating the age verification requirement are subject to fines of up to $10,000 per day, an additional $10,000 per day if the corporation illegally retains identifying information, and $250,000 if a child is exposed to pornographic content due to not properly verifying a user’s age.
Aylo Global declined to comment on the lawsuit.
