Protecting Kids in the Digital Age
Texas is leading the charge with H.B. 1181, requiring age verification for access to pornographic material and mandating clear warning labels. This law tackles the alarming rates of early exposure to explicit content and its harmful impacts on mental health, relationships, and societal values.
Why It Matters: Early exposure to pornography has lasting consequences for children. With nearly half of kids aged 9–16 exposed to explicit material, H.B. 1181 could become a model for states nationwide.
How We're Supporting: On November 8, 2024, the Council on Pornography Reform filed an Amicus Brief with the Supreme Court, backing Texas in defending this landmark legislation. The brief outlines the importance of age verification laws and highlights how similar measures can safeguard children across the U.S.
To read the full Amicus Brief, click on the link below.
Amicus Brief
Efforts To Corral Pornography Into The .XXX Domain
by Ricky Schroder
As the harm of internet pornography accessibility grows, we may learn how to move ahead, cordoning off that content where access can be better controlled. Today, pornography is generally found in the .com domain. A debate that occurred during the earlier days of the Internet as to how pornography could be isolated could help us. In this paper, we revisit the proposal to confine pornographic websites in a discrete portion of the Internet — what is known as the .xxx domain — so access can be controlled.
To read the full policy Paper, click on link below.
POLICY PAPER
Attorney General Ken Paxton Wins Major Victory Protecting Children from Obscene Materials
On June 12, 2023, Texas enacted H.B. 1181, requiring companies that produce or distribute pornographic material that is harmful to minors to have age-verification capability to ensure that the companies did not distribute the material to minors. A coalition of online pornography websites and “adult performers” sought injunctive relief from the federal district court for the Western District of Texas. Inter alia, Plaintiffs alleged the law “would unconstitutionally restrict their free expression....”
On November 17, 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a significant win in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals against pornography distributors suing to stop Texas from implementing a new law requiring pornography sites to verify whether a user is 18 years or older. The ruling stayed a district court’s injunction against the law, allowing the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) to enforce it and protect Texas children.
The Council on Pornography Reform was proud to have had a role in the appeals process!
Click to read more!
AMICUS BRIEF
FREE SPEECH COALITION, INC., et al.,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
ANGELA COLMENERO,
Defendant-Appellant,
The First Amendment Does Not Protect Pornography
On February 12, 2024, the Reel American Heroes Foundation Policy Paper was published. This paper demonstrates that pornography is entitled to no constitutional protection. Judges have badly abused the First Amendment, twisting its meaning to give protection to pornographic material that the Framers of that Amendment, which was ratified in 1791, never envisioned.
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RAHF POLICY PAPER
OP-Ed-Ricky Schroder: The Porn Pushers Have No 1st Amendment Rights
On February 14, 2024, The Western Journal published our founder, Ricky Schroder's article.
Click to read more!
OP-ED ARTICLE
