Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
- Sen. Mike Lee and religious groups support Texas' age verification porn law.
- The U.S. Supreme Court will decide the law's constitutionality, affecting similar state laws.
- The decision could impact Utah's law and Sen. Lee's SCREEN Act in Congress.
SALT LAKE CITY — Like Utah, Texas in 2023 passed a law requiring pornography websites to verify users' ages and block children from seeing pornographic material. But it is the Texas law that Utah Sen. Mike Lee and 22 of his colleagues are saying the Supreme Court needs to rule as constitutional.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the American Islamic Congress and other major religious organizations, also made a legal filing in support of the Texas law. An attorney from the Salt Lake City law firm Kirton McConkie as well as former Utah Supreme Justice Thomas Lee are among the listed legal counsel.
A trade association for the adult entertainment industry called Free Speech Coalition sued Texas over its law. The group had actually sued Utah as well, but a judge dismissed the suit.
The Texas law case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Several states across the country like Louisiana (the first state) and Florida have passed similar laws to the Texas law. The fate of these laws will likely hinge on what the court decides.
Lee, R-Utah, and his colleagues Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, along with 20 others joined up to file what's called a friend of the court brief. Think of it as an effort to assist Texas as it fights for its law to be considered constitutional.
The lawmakers said in the brief they are advocates not only for the First Amendment but also child welfare. They said age verification laws balance two things: individual liberties and the compelling government interest to keep children from experiencing the effects of pornography.
What this case boils down to is the ability of state and federal governments' abilities to protect children from the harm caused by pornography, the lawmakers said in the brief. They asked the court to reaffirm that governments can impose age restrictions.
Should government be able to block children from seeing pornography?
Right now, there are several states where pornography websites are not age-gated — that means children can go onto the sites and view pornography.
These lawmakers said this shouldn't be the case, and government should be able to prevent them from seeing it.
In the brief, these lawmakers said pornography has changed from magazines sold in brick and mortar stores, and now online pornography is more objectifying, violent and disrespectful. Children have brains more vulnerable to the effects of watching this kind of content, they said.
Citing research published in an academic journal, Sexual Health & Compulsivity, lawmakers said adolescents and teens who look at pornography are also more likely to engage in risky behavior. They name sending intimate photos of oneself as one of these behaviors and say this "creates opportunities for cyberbullying, extortion, revenge porn and the proliferation of child pornography."
Calling it a "perilous landscape," they say this is why governments have passed laws to protect children. Lawmakers said that age verification technology can help them protect children, and it's a small barrier for adults who decide to look at pornography.
Attorneys for the major religious organizations said states should have the ability to make laws in this arena that protect children. If states don't have this ability, then they can't protect children now and in the future, especially as technology rapidly advances.
Major religious organizations: Faith communities need laws like the Texas one
Faith communities need states' help in protecting children from the harms of pornography, said lawyers in the brief from major religious organizations. Because of the spiritual harms pornography poses, the attorneys said laws like the Texas law "are essential to religious parents' ability to raise their children in their chosen faith."
Diverse religious groups like Latter-day Saints, Catholics, evangelicals, Jews, Muslims and Hindus recognize the harm of lust and the harm of pornography, said the attorneys.
The brief quotes from The Church of Jesus Christ's handbook that says the church "condemns pornography in any form" because it "drives away the spirit of the Lord," among other reasons.
Parents of children in these faith groups believe they need to teach their kids to avoid pornography, the attorneys said.
"As pornography has become more widespread, it has become increasingly difficult for parents — including parents striving to raise their children consistent with their religious traditions — to prevent their children from viewing it," said the brief. The internet makes it tough to legislate, too.
Filters aren't working at blocking children from seeing pornography, said the brief, so parents need multiple lines of defense, including age verification. Both lawmakers and the major religious organizations said smartphones are changing the game.
"Because a significant amount of pornography is viewed by accident, the growth of smartphone use not only makes pornography more accessible, it also makes it more invasive," said attorneys for the religious groups.
Without Texas' law and others like it, religious communities and parents "will be left to fight this vicious plague alone," said the attorneys for the religious organizations. "And it is likely to be a losing battle."
What this all means for Utah
State lawmakers in Utah and Utah's lawmakers out in D.C. have been fighting to protect children from the harm of pornography, especially over the last few years. How the Supreme Court rules on this law could impact the state in a couple ways.
First, if the court strikes down Texas' law, it's likely to have implications for Utah because the state has a very similar law. But that's not something we will know about until the court releases its opinion — probably in June or July 2025.
In addition to passing a similar law to Texas, Utah has another law requiring smartphones or tablets to automatically filter obscene material for minors. State Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, who has been at the forefront of Utah's Legislature to protect children from pornography, sponsored this bill. Gov. Spencer Cox signed it during the last session, and it'll impact smartphones and tablets manufactured on or after Jan. 1, 2025.
But it could also impact a bill Lee has been pushing for on the national stage, too.
The Shielding Children's Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (the pithier title is the SCREEN Act) is something Lee has been trying to get through Congress for a while — it would require pornography websites to verify that users are over 18.
With a Republican Congress and a Republican president, Lee could have an easier time of things getting it passed come 2025, but if the court says Texas' law is not constitutional, then it might be difficult for the SCREEN Act to withstand a constitutional challenge (depending on the reasoning of the ruling).
In any case, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Texas' law in the coming months, and the court's decision will likely be an important standard states will look at for making laws to protect children from pornography.
