Supreme Court Traps Itself In Muddy First Amendment Standards

The US Supreme Court's decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton denying a First Amendment challenge to a Texas law requiring online publishers of sexual content to verify the ages of Texas users likely represents a narrow holding applicable only to obscene content. But the court's analysis raises broader questions that bear on the constitutionality of other age verification provisions.

The Texas law at the center of the case requires operators of websites, at least onethird of whose content is “sexual material harmful to minors,” to verify that every Texas user is older than 18. Texas asserted the law holds website operators to the same standard as brick-and-mortar institutions, which must check identification to sell explicit content.