The Political Orphanage How Texas Blocked Pornhub
Oct 9, 2025
Ronnie London, general counsel at FIRE and a veteran in First Amendment litigation, dives into the impact of Texas's age verification law that led Pornhub to shut down in the state. He discusses the intricate battle of free speech against state regulations, unpacking the Free Speech Coalition's lawsuit. Topics include the Miller test for obscenity, historical court precedents, and the complexities surrounding online identity checks. London critically examines Texas's true objectives and advocates for less invasive measures over blanket restrictions.
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Digital ID Creates Persistent Risk
- Online age verification creates persistent identification records absent in in‑person ID checks.
- That record raises unique privacy and breach risks not present at a physical store or club.
Borked Video Records Spurred Privacy Law
- The Video Privacy Protection Act emerged after reporters pulled Judge Bork's rental records during his confirmation.
- That scandal shows the harms of disclosing private media consumption and motivates privacy protections.
Thomas Equates Online And Offline Checks
- Justice Thomas adopted intermediate scrutiny by analogizing online ID checks to long‑accepted in‑person age checks.
- That move sidestepped strict scrutiny but depends on treating online and offline checks as equivalent.