AG Paxton sues distributor for Pornhub over age verification law
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday filed suit against a major pornography distribution company for violating the state’s law requiring age verification.
The suit, filed in Travis County district court, alleges Aylo Global Entertainment Inc. and Aylo USA Inc. published and distributed pornography through various websites, including Pornhub, without confirming website visitors’ ages. The company’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The state of Texas is asking a court to order the company to require appropriate age verification safeguards and potentially pay millions of dollars in civil penalties for failing to abide by the law.
“Texas has a right to protect its children from the detrimental effects of pornographic content,” Paxton said in a statement. “I look forward to holding any company accountable that violates our age verification laws intended to prevent minors from being exposed to harmful, obscene material on the
internet.”
The Republican-majority Legislature passed the age verification law, HB 1181, last year. It requires companies that distribute “sexual material harmful to minors” to confirm visitors are over 18 through an online system that verifies age using government-issued identification or another commercially available system that uses public or private data. The sites are not permitted to retain identifying information.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in November of last year upheld the law, which carries fines of up to $10,000 a day, an additional $10,000 per day if the company illegally retains identifying information, and $250,000 if one or more children are exposed to explicit content due to the violation.