Texas Sues Pornhub’s Parent Company Over Age Verification Law

GOP lawmakers say the law is aimed at protecting minors from being exposed to obscene materials.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton talks to reporters at the Washington Supreme Court, on April 26, 2022. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Pornhub’s parent company and major online porn distributor Aylo Global Entertainment over claims it failed to follow the state’s new age verification law.

The lawsuit (pdf) was filed in state court in Austin on Feb. 26 and lists Aylo Global Entertainment [formerly MindGeek] and Aylo USA Incorporated as defendants.

The Canadian adult entertainment conglomerate publishes “sexually explicit material online that is accessible and harmful to Texas children and adolescents,” the lawsuit begins.

It then cites the “many negative emotional, psychological, and physical health outcomes” that can be associated with exposure to such material among pre-teens.

Texas officials go on to accuse Aylo Global of failing to use reasonable age verification measures to ensure those accessing and viewing pornography via their websites are 18 years of age or older, as required under a recently passed state law, House Bill 1181 (pdf).

That measure–authored by Republican Rep. Matt Shaheen—is aimed at protecting minors from being exposed to obscene materials, according to GOP lawmakers.

The bill, which was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in June last year, states that porn websites must also publish “health warnings” on their landing pages.

Lawsuit Details

The warning, to be attributed to the Texas Health and Human Services, must state that exposure to pornography is “associated with low self-esteem and body image, eating disorders, impaired brain development, and other emotional and mental illnesses” and “increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation, and child pornography.”

Companies that violate the age verification law risk being fined up to $10,000 for each day in violation, as per the legislation, and face an additional $10,000 per day if the corporation illegally retains identifying information.

Additionally, entities may have to pay out $250,000 if a child is exposed to pornographic content due to not properly verifying a user’s age.

According to the lawsuit filed by Texas, however, rather than seeing such health warnings when they visit Aylo Global Entertainment’s websites, minors are instead “either immediately presented with sexual material harmful to minors with no form of verification needed, or are asked to complete the trivial step of clicking an ‘enter’ button which, ostensibly, verifies the viewer is over the age of 18.”

“Moreover, even when the Defendants’ websites require an ‘enter’ button be pressed, that button is often displayed along with a sample of the sexual material published or distributed on the website,” the lawsuit states.

The age verification methods used by Aylo Global on their adult entertainment websites “cannot be said to verify anything at all, and wholly fail to comply with the requirements,” of the legislation, Texas officials state.

‘Detrimental Effects of Pornographic Content’

The attorney general’s office is seeking an injunction to force Aylo Global to comply with the state’s age verification system and display the required health warnings.

Texas is also asking Aylo to pay $1.6 million in civil penalties plus $10,000 per day dating back to mid-September, the same month the measure was initially set to go into effect.

Screens displaying an adults-only sign and the logo of the pornographic site Pornhub in Toulouse, France, on May 24, 2022. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Mr. Paxton’s office said Texas “has a right to protect its children from the detrimental effects of pornographic content.”

“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,” Mr. Paxton said.

Texas’ lawsuit against Aylo Global Entertainment comes after multiple pornography websites challenged House Bill 1181 in an effort to prevent the law from going into effect.

While the measure was initially blocked in district court in August last year, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the district court’s injunction in November 2023, allowing Texas to enforce the law.

A spokesperson for Aylo declined to comment.