Supreme Court leans in favor of state-enforced age limits on porn websites

Los Angeles Times ^ | Jan. 15, 2025 Updated 12:48 PM PT | David G. Savage

[E. Pluribus Unum]

WASHINGTON  —  Thanks to the internet and smartphones, children today have instant access to vast amounts of online pornography, much of it graphic, violent and degrading, Texas state attorneys told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

They urged justices to restore the rules of an earlier era, when X-rated theaters and bookstores had an adults-only policy.

Last year, Texas enacted an age-verification law that requires pornographic websites to confirm their users are 18 or older.

Lawyers for 23 other Republican-led states joined in support of Texas, saying they have or plan to adopt similar measures.

The court’s conservative justices signaled they are prepared to uphold these new laws.

They noted that age-verification rules are now common for online gambling and for buying alcohol or tobacco online.

But more importantly, they pointed to the dramatic change in technology and the easy availability of hardcore pornography.

We are “in an entirely different era,” said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “The technological access to pornography has exploded.”

He said that warrants reconsidering rulings from decades past that invoked the 1st Amendment to strike down anti-pornography measures.

In one such ruling, the court in 2004 said parents and librarians could use filtering software to protect children from pornography.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett said parents have long known that “filtering” software is not effective in protecting children. “Kids can get online porn through gaming systems, tablets, phones and computers,” she said. “I can say from personal experience ... content filtering isn’t working.”

In the past, she said the court had no problem upholding laws that prevent bookstores from selling sexually explicit books or magazine to children or teens.

She questioned why online porn should be treated differently.

[Jonty30]

Good to know.

[Bayard]

I’m more in favor of banned smartphones/tablets for anyone under 21.

[reasonisfaith]

Why are they afraid to outlaw porn?

[PeterPrinciple]

pornography addiction is a very sick addiction.

Too many young people are imprinted with it these days.

[Liaison]

Too bad it’s not going to work. A good VPN and an a node in a neutral state and “all your porn belongs to us” /semi sarc

[Jonty30]

Nothing works absolutely. You just want to get the 80% that it would be effective for and delay it long enough for the curious to lose interest.

[reasonisfaith]

If you’re on the court but can’t articulate a ruling against pornography, you need to re-examine every principle you ever thought you believed.

[frank ballenger]

A character on Law and Order SVU who produced and distributed porn said: “I’ve been told the industry I’m in generates over 40 million dollars a year in revenue but I have never met one person who ever watches it.”

[tumblindice]

Pornographer Hugh Hefner skirted pornography laws by putting written articles in his stroke mags which qualified them as having “literary value”. (Artistic, scientific, literary, something else value)
We read them carefully, of course, shunning the pictorials.

[Jonty30]

Free expression often contravenes morality, but the immoral person still has a right to express themselves in a way that we don’t think they should.

[Gene Eric]

>> to confirm their users are 18 or older.

Wouldn’t that be an age minimum?

At first, I thought they were hoping to prevent grandma from hosting an OF site.

[frank ballenger]

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in a case regarding obscenity famously said, when asked to define pornography.
“I know it when I see it.”
///////////////////////////////

Great Woody Allen line:

“Is sex dirty?”

“It is if you’re doing it right.”

[Leaning Right]

As was noted by Liaison, a good VPN will defeat any local ban.

No matter. Any ruling that recognizes power of the states is okay with me. The 10th Amendment, and all that.

[frank ballenger]

They finally happened onto the way the next civil war will be ignited.

[reasonisfaith]

Morality is stronger than free expression, and to demonstrate this is merely a process of putting pen to paper.

[wildcard_redneck]

"Too bad it’s not going to work. A good VPN and an a node in a neutral state and “all your porn belongs to us” /semi sarc"

My thought on that is, if you're smart enough to do that then you're smart and old enough to watch porn - and charge your more idiotic friends for the privilege. If we put up just enough obstacles to keep out the young and the idiotic then we should be good.

[Jonty30]

The American Constitution disagrees with you.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If you’re on the court but can’t articulate a ruling against pornography, you need to re-examine every principle you ever thought you believed.

All we had to do to eliminate the scourge of drug trafficking and addiction was outlaw drugs.

It would be the same with pornography if only we had the courage to outlaw it.

When, oh when, will we learn?

[Rad_J]

This is a tough issue and I don’t have a solution

But we do have age restrictions for driving. Smoking. Drinking alcohol. Buying fireworks, etc.

We teach a toddler to navigate the stairs and they learn real quick that falling down the stairs hurts. We dont outlaw stairs.