Chaturbate Settles With Texas AG Ken Paxton in HB 1181 Lawsuit

AUSTIN, Texas—The parent company for Chaturbate has reached a settlement with the office of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to resolve a lawsuit accusing the adult live-streaming giant of violating age verification requirements laid out in the controversial House Bill (HB) 1181. "It’s a very positive development that this company has decided to follow the law and begin reasonable age verification measures designed to protect Texas children from harmful material," said Paxton in a press statement. “Other pornography companies should follow this example and willingly choose to do the right thing and abide by the law.” According to a copy of the settlement reviewed by AVN, Chaturbate's parent company, Multi Media LLC, is ordered to pay a civil penalty of $675,000. "Payment shall be made by either a cashier’s check or money order made payable to the State of Texas," per the settlement. Chaturbate is also ordered to implement age verification software in order to operate in Texas. "Promptly after suit was filed, on March 21, 2024, Multi Media, LLC, implemented the age verification required by Texas law," reads the settlement. "Subsequently, the parties’ respective counsel conferred and agreed to the terms of a final order that fully resolves the issues alleged in the state’s petition."  AVN previously reported on lawsuits filed by Attorney General Paxton in Travis County courts against Chaturbate and the parent companies of xHamster and Pornhub. Pornhub's parent company, Aylo, is currently a party to a case being petitioned for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges the constitutionality of HB 1181. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Quinn Emanuel represent Aylo, which is joined by the parent companies of the largest tube sites in the world and the Free Speech Coalition. The groups maintain that First Amendment rights are being violated by requiring age verification to view age-restricted materials.  AVN reached out to Chaturbate COO Shirley Lara for comment, but had not received a response as of post time.