Supreme Court Upholds Texas Age Verification Law for Porn Sites in 6-3 Ruling, Affecting Pornhub

On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify the age of users before granting access to adult content. The 6-3 ruling, authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, affirmed the law's constitutionality and rejected challenges that it violated the First Amendment rights of adults. The decision allows Texas and other states with similar statutes to enforce age verification measures to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit material online.

Major adult websites, including Pornhub and Redtube, are expected to implement robust age verification systems. The ruling could have broader implications for online content regulation and has prompted discussions about similar laws in other states such as Florida and Georgia. The Court applied intermediate scrutiny in its review, and the majority opinion emphasized the state's authority to protect children from harmful online content without infringing on adults' free speech rights. The dissenting justices were Justices Kagan, Jackson, and Sotomayor. The law's enforcement has already led to Pornhub's withdrawal from Texas. This ruling marks a shift in the Court's approach to internet regulation concerning adult content and age verification.