Civil Liberties Orgs File Amicus Briefs in Texas AV Case Appeal

WASHINGTON—A slate of civil liberties advocacy organizations and rights groups have filed amicus briefs in support of the Free Speech Coalition and some of the world's largest adult entertainment platforms in their petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming a Texas age verification law as constitutional. Free Speech Coalition (FSC) sued last year to block Texas House Bill (HB) 1181 from entering into force. Texas HB 1181 requires mandatory age verification for adult entertainment websites. After a favorable ruling by a federal district judge in Austin, Texas state officials managed to plead their case to enforce HB 1181 to a sympathetic, conservative Fifth Circuit. After a fight in the appeals court, the FSC took on co-representation from the American Civil Liberties Union and filed a petition for a writ of certiorari for Supreme Court review. While the underlying petition is still pending, the high court denied an application for a stay to temporarily block the enforcement of House Bill 1181 for the duration of the appeal petition. The Fifth Circuit's upholding of the law allowed the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue the parent companies of Pornhub, xHamster, and Chaturbate for violating its age verification requirements. Multi Media LLC, Chaturbate's operator, settled with Paxton's office and was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $675,000. Pornhub's parent, Aylo, is a party to the FSC's lawsuit. According to the docket, there are four new amicus briefs in support of the FSC and the multinational parent companies of adult platforms like Pornhub, XVideos, and XNXX. First, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation filed an amicus brief through adult industry attorneys Corey Silverstein and Larry Walters, along with EFF counsel. In a press release published by Woodhull, it announced that the amicus brief was made possible by a donation from internet hosting provider MojoHost and its president, Brad Mitchell. "I am proud to support Woodhull and the EFF’s efforts in seeking this writ of certiorari," Mitchell said. "The action of inhibiting free speech does nothing to protect our children, it will only result in elevating worse content such as CSAM, copyright theft, and abusive materials from other jurisdictions outside of the United States where enforcement is impossible and viewing is freely available," he added. Ricci Levy, president and CEO of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, commented, "[If] the real goal is to block adult access and shut down the adult content currently available, and if the Justices allow that to happen, then Democracy as we believe it to be is dead. ... A big thank you to MojoHost for donating the necessary funds to defray the legal fees and costs of filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court." "I felt compelled to assist Woodhull and the EFF in combating this massive error by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals," Silverstein told AVN. "These age verification laws are an out-of-control wildfire destroying the freedom of speech across the United States," he added. "Paxton's actions in Texas are alarming, to say the least, and I'm hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will see the importance of accepting certiorari and hear the petitioner's arguments." The second amicus brief was filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). FIRE previously filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit during an appeal made by then-interim Texas Attorney General Angela Colmenero when Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra of the Western District of Texas found HB 1181 unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the state from enforcing its age verification measures. Paxton returned to his full capacity as Texas attorney general after a bid to impeach him failed.  Third, an international child protection NGO filed an amicus brief in support of FSC and the adult entertainment companies. The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), a spin-off organization still affiliated with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), filed an amicus brief arguing for device-based verification methods.  Fourth, a coalition of book publishers and legal defense funds for authors filed an amicus brief highlighting the need to protect the First Amendment right to read, which could be at risk by requiring age verification to view such materials. The coalition that filed the amicus brief includes American Booksellers for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the Author's Guild, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the Freedom to Read Foundation. In this filing, the groups argue the high court's "longstanding precedent is clear: content-based restrictions on First Amendment-protected materials are subject to strict scrutiny. ... This Court should grant certiorari." Other organizations are expected to file in support soon. In the coming weeks, amicus briefs are expected from groups supporting Texas like religious conservative organizations.