Popular Texas pornographic movie websites have recently included “Texas Health and Human Services” disclaimers, warning viewers of alleged health hazards related to viewing adult material.
This action comes in response to a temporary overturning of a Texas law by a US appeals court, which mandated age verification and government health warnings on adult websites.
Notably, these warnings are now displayed on every Vixen Media Group site, including Deeper, Blacked, and Vixen, explicitly targeting users in Texas.
The newly implemented pop-up disclaimers on these adult websites contain debatable claims about the effects of pornography consumption.
Some of the warnings include statements that watching porn is potentially biologically addictive” and “proven to harm human brain development.
Furthermore, they suggest that pornography increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation, and child pornography and assert a connection between pornography exposure and “emotional and mental illnesses.
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Texas House Bill 1181: Legal Battles Over Mandated Disclaimers on Adult Websites
These disclaimers are the outcome of Texas’ House Bill 1181 (HB 1181), initially set to take effect on September 1st but faced significant legal challenges.
HB 1181 mandated that adult websites display disclaimers and verify users’ ages using government-issued identification.
However, in late August, a district judge issued an injunction blocking the law after a group of adult entertainment activists and companies, including Pornhub, Brazzers, and the Free Speech Coalition, argued it was unconstitutional.
As outlined in the lawsuit, critics of the law described the required health warnings as a mixture of falsehoods, discredited pseudo-science, and baseless accusations.
District Judge David Alan Ezra concurred with these criticisms in his decision on August 31st, asserting that the Health and human services commission had not officially issued the warnings.
Despite the initial injunction, on September 19th, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay, temporarily blocking the request while scheduling arguments.
The court did not explain its decision but indicated that the appeal would be “expedited” for the following oral argument panel.
This legal battle reflects a broader trend in the United States, where several states have implemented rules to regulate adult websites, thereby influencing their operations.
For instance, following Arkansas’s passage of an age verification law for adult sites in August, Pornhub operator MindGeek responded by blocking all Arkansas users.
Similar measures have been imposed in states with comparable laws, including Mississippi, Utah, and Virginia.
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Source: The Verge
