11-07-2025
Perspective: Now is the time for Congress to protect all children from porn
Last month, the Supreme Court struck a blow against Big Porn. In a 6-3 vote, the court ruled in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton that a Texas law requiring age verification to access pornography sites is constitutional. This decision upholds statutes like Utah's SB 287, as well as dozens of similar laws around the country. And it paves the way for federal legislation that would protect all children across the United States.
At the heart of the case was whether porn companies have an absolute right to feed their obscene content to children and whether digital age-verification is constitutional. Since the early days of the internet, the court has recognized a compelling government interest in protecting kids online. But a decade before the iPhone was invented, the court determined in Reno v. ACLU that filtering software was more effective at protecting kids and less burdensome on adults' First Amendment rights than age-verification.
The court's confidence in filtering software was predicated on a fundamental misunderstanding of the internet. In Reno, Justice John Paul Stevens opined on behalf of the court that 'the Internet is not as 'invasive' as radio or television,' and 'users seldom encounter [pornographic] content accidentally.'
Few predictions have so completely missed the mark. During oral arguments for Paxton, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a mother of seven, summarized what has happened: 'Kids can get online porn through gaming systems, tablets, phones, computers. … I think the explosion of addiction to online porn has shown that content filtering isn't working.'
The facts support Barrett. A 2022 report from Common Sense Media found that about 3 out of 5 kids (58%) have encountered pornography accidentally — 54% of them by age 13 or younger. And parents are desperate for help to keep their kids from encountering algorithmically tailored hardcore porn. As new research by Jonathan Haidt shows, 72% of American parents agree with the statement 'When I think about my child's experience growing up, I wish mature online content had never been invented.' In other words, the Reno opinion was wrong about the reach of the internet. Dead wrong.
Early exposure to pornographic content can have devastating consequences. Pornography is highly addictive. Studies have shown that 1 out of 3 Americans seek out porn at least once a month. And those who view it regularly are at higher risk to experience sexual dysfunction, engage in risky sexual behavior, and be physically and verbally aggressive. Adolescents who intentionally view porn are more likely to sexually harass their peers and engage in child-on-child sexual abuse.
Despite these known harms, porn websites — unlike brick-and-mortar establishments — have been allowed to operate for decades without age-gating their content. Estimates of the revenue of the global porn industry range from $58 billion to $287 billion annually, surpassing the revenue of the NFL, NBA and MLB combined. Porn companies addict children to sexually explicit content so that they will become repeat customers, ensuring profits for years to come.
With the court's recent ruling, however, Big Porn's exploitation of America's children comes to an end. As Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, argued:
'Only an age-verification requirement can ensure compliance with an age-based restriction. The need for age verification online is even greater. Unlike a store clerk, a website operator cannot look at its visitors and estimate their ages. Without a requirement to submit proof of age, even clearly underage minors would be able to access sexual content undetected.'
By upholding Texas's right to age-verify traditionally age-restricted, obscene content, the Supreme Court's decision means that other states are within their rights to take similar action to stop porn sites from feeding obscene content to minors.
But the ramifications of this ruling extend much further. Paxton, simply put, empowers Congress. Big Porn is not just potentially barred from accessing children in red states, where laws like this have been passed by the dozens. Porn companies can now be stopped from addicting any American child. All Congress has to do is act.
Now that online age verification for porn sites has been upheld as constitutional under Paxton, federal legislation requiring the same, such as Utah Sen. Mike Lee's SCREEN Act, can be passed with confidence that it will withstand legal challenges. This is especially important as the bill would make such commonsense safeguards the law of the land, eliminating technical loopholes afforded by the current patchwork of state laws.
With the Paxton ruling, the court has vindicated the important work of policymakers, child safety experts and parents who have worked tirelessly to protect kids from the devastation of digital pornography. No longer will porn companies be allowed to feed their 'smut' — as Justice Elena Kagan described it in oral arguments — to minors without consequence. And no longer must families live in fear or powerlessness when it comes to protecting their kids online.
Paxton promises a much brighter future for the children of the digital age. It's up to Congress to seize it.
Jared Hayden is policy analyst with the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. Michael Toscano is senior fellow and director of the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies.
