Summary
The Supreme Court’s hearing of Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton signals potential limits on First Amendment protections for online pornography.
The case involves a Texas law mandating age verification for websites with “sexual material harmful to minors,” challenging the 2004 Ashcroft v. ACLU precedent, which struck down similar laws under strict scrutiny.
Justices, citing the inadequacy of modern filtering tools, seemed inclined to weaken free speech protections, exploring standards like intermediate scrutiny.
The ruling could reshape online speech regulations, leaving adults’ access to sexual content uncertain while tightening restrictions for minors.
My earliest memories of the internet was boobs, and then later a helicopter decapitation.
It’s kind of annoying that so many id restrictions focus on porn. Maybe it’s not normal for today’s kids/teens to come across violent content, compared to people that mightve come across rotten, faces, 4chan, etc. back then.