State-Sectional Age Verification vs. Government-Improved ID: The Injunction in Reno v. ACLU Revisited
The decision was likely to be appealed to a federal appeals court, which could decide on the fate of the bill. But for now, it’s a blow against a broad movement to lock down sites with sexual content — and a fairly scathing one at that.
It could be troubling in a state with a law forbidding sodomy, if one had to identify themselves to access a gay porn site.
Privacy concerns have been raised by age verification. One of the two methods allowed for age verification under the law is through government-issued ID; given the government is not required to delete data regarding access, the ruling said, “People will be particularly concerned about accessing controversial speech when the state government can log and track that access.”
The injunction repeats frequent criticisms of online age verification, particularly the chilling effects of asking people to identify themselves through potentially insecure verification systems.
According to the district judge, there are a lot of problems that can limit internet users and adult content creators’ First Amendment rights. It is unconstitutional for the restriction to deter adults from accessing legal sexually explicit material because it is against the interest of protecting children. The Child Online Protection Act, a 1990s law that was intended to block the sale and distribution of pornography to children, was blocked by previous decisions. It also draws on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Reno v. ACLU, which struck down most of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law regulating online pornography.
Social media sites, however, would be exempt from the age restrictions because they likely do not meet the one-third sexual material standard, the ruling said. The judge indicated that children can watch porn on certain websites, for example, on a dedicated to explicit sexual content. Under the law searching for images on search engines can be done.
The Texas law that required age verification and a health warning for viewing porn was blocked by a federal judge the day it was set to take effect.
The judge said that the state doesn’t have enough evidence to show that this is an effective way to stop children’s access to sexual material and that the warnings are not easy to understand.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has not announced any findings despite the label “Texas Health and Human Services” being on the warnings.
Porn sites are required to provide a number for people with mental health and substance abuse issues as well as warnings about the psychological dangers of viewing porn, in addition to age verification.
The State Attorney General’s Intent to Appeal Against a State-Enforcing Law Concerning Electronic Document Leaks and Hacks
Beyond state monitoring concerns, the ruling also notes the deterring effects caused by the threats of exposing sensitive information through potential leaks or hacks.
The judge’s ruling prevents the state attorney general, the defendant in the case, from enforcing the law. The attorney general’s office has filed a notice of their intent to appeal.