The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments earlier this week in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, a case generated by legal challenges to a law passed in Texas in 2023. The law required pornography distributors on websites which contained more than one-third “sexual material harmful to minors” to require “reasonable age verification methods.”
The original law passed the Texas state legislature by a 164 to 1 margin. Eighteen states have passed similar laws in the recent past and with similarly lopsided majorities.
Clearly, tens of millions of American parents want the government to protect their children from sexually explicit material on social media and the internet. Strictly speaking, this case is not about banning adults from accessing pornography.
It is about society’s obligation and responsibility to protect and shield minors from being exposed to pornographic material. This bill would allow adult Americans to view all manner of adult erotica, only requiring that they identify themselves, and provide proof that they are at least 18 years of age.
Why is this a problem? One of the biggest allures of online pornography is anonymity. People want to access these sites without running the risk of being “outed” as a user of such material.
At the most basic level, the question is simply this: “Does the adult’s right to anonymously access pornography sites trump society’s responsibility to protect children from such damaging material?”
Click Here To Read More (Originally Published at The Christian Post)
