Pornhub Might Return to Some States After SCOTUS Loss: Report

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision that has significant implications for the adult entertainment industry. The court ruled in favor of a Texas law requiring websites with pornographic material to verify all users are 18 or older. Pornhub, the world's most popular adult platform, had been blocking its content from Texas in protest, but it seems that this stance may be under review.

According to a new report from Bloomberg Law, Pornhub's parent company, Aylo Global, may be considering a move to conduct age verifications after all. This comes as a result of a federal court hearing over a dispute on whether Aylo Global should pay fines for initially not conducting age checks in 2023.

A lawyer for the company, Scott Cole of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP, made a telling comment during the hearing: "Everyone's reevaluating the new landscape after the Supreme Court opinion." This suggests that the industry is taking note of the court's ruling and considering potential changes to their content offerings.

A spokesperson for Pornhub told Gizmodo over email that the company is "in the process of assessing the decision and are not ing on any possible changes at this time." While they did not elaborate on what potential changes might be in the works, it's clear that the company is keeping a close eye on the situation.

Pornhub had been blocking all users from Texas since March 2024, rather than face further fines for non-compliance. However, visitors can still use a VPN to bypass this block and access the site. Anyone trying to visit Pornhub right now is met with a long message that explains the situation.

The adult entertainment industry has been vocal in its opposition to age verification laws on First Amendment grounds. The Free Speech Coalition, which represents porn sites, argued that requiring a credit card or driver's license for age verification does open up a new avenue for hackers to unmask users and expose them to potential embarrassment.

The case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (Ken Paxton is the Attorney General of Texas), was decided 6-3 along ideological lines. Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that "History, tradition, and precedent recognize that States have two distinct powers to address obscenity: They may proscribe outright speech that is obscene to the public at large, and they may prevent children from accessing speech that is obscene to children."

However, liberal justices on the court disagreed with the reasoning behind a requirement for age verification, arguing that any protections for children should be implemented in the least restrictive way possible to allow adults to access material they're entitled to see. Justice Elena Kagan wrote that "speech that is obscene for minors is often not so for adults" and asked whether the law was the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling state interest.

The implications of this ruling are far-reaching, with at least 19 states currently having laws on the books requiring user age verification for porn sites. If Pornhub decides to implement a way to do this, it seems likely that other states will follow. Even Democratic-leaning states may pass laws, as most of the states with age verification requirements are controlled by Republicans.