Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub and other adult entertainment sites, for failing to enforce the state’s new age verification laws, first reported by 404 Media on Monday.
“Texas has a right to protect its children from the detrimental effects of pornographic content,” said Attorney General Paxton in a press release. “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.”
Texas is now imposing a strict age verification law, HB 1181, to keep minors off pornographic websites. Montana, North Carolina, Louisiana, and a growing list of states introduced similar laws in the last year. Age verification typically requires users to upload a picture of their ID before visiting a porn site. Aylo, the parent of Pornhub, Brazzers, and YouPorn, says this is an imperfect solution that puts the privacy of porn watchers at risk, and the company has refused to do it.
Aylo did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
The lawsuit aims to force Aylo into compliance with Texas law and could set a precedent for other states with similar laws. Pornhub’s parent company could be facing a civil penalty of $1.6 million, plus $250,000 for every child exposed to pornographic content and $10,000 for every additional day the case goes on.
Aylo’s response to some of these laws was by removing its service in North Carolina, Montana and other states. However, search trends suggest most people are likely using VPNs to get around these geographical blocks.
Texas’ age verification law also mandates a disclaimer from Texas Health and Human Services on all pornographic sites. The pop-up, which briefly appeared on some sites in Texas, claims porn is “proven to harm human brain development,” and is associated with “low self-esteem” and “emotional and mental illnesses.”
