You might remember us talking about the case before the U.S. Supreme Court on whether pornography websites should be required to verify users’ ages in order to protect children from this harmful content. Under the Texas law (opposed by the porn industry), if “adult entertainment” makes up more than 30% of a website’s content, the website must verify a user’s age before allowing them to access the site. Them Before Us filed an amicus brief in this case, and urged the Supreme Court to uphold Texas’s age-verification law. Our brief demonstrated how the pornography industry harms children and urged the Court to keep common-sense, child-protective laws on the books. Katy also wrote an op-ed to breakdown the importance of this case when it came to child protection.
“MAJOR VICTORY for kids at the Supreme Court today! Children deserve better than to be exposed to the violence of the pornography industry – today’s ruling is a win for common sense and child protection!” – Patience Sunne, Engagement Director – Them Before Us
Here is our full press statement:
“An ever-increasing number of children are being exposed to pornography at an extremely young age. This monumental ruling is key to protecting children from the dangers of the pornography industry and the significant harm to children when they are exposed to the content hosted on these websites. The cost of early exposure to pornography is high, and children deserve better than to be exposed to the violence and degeneracy of this industry. Upholding this commonsense law and paving the way for more like it is a matter of justice for children!
The average age of first exposure to pornography is 12 years old, with many children being exposed at an earlier age. Children who are exposed to violent pornography are more likely to engage in problematic sexual behaviors toward other children. As we point out in our brief, a child who accesses even the home page of popular pornography websites would be exposed to violent and disturbing pornographic content with only a single tap on their screen. The Supreme Court acknowledges this in their ruling, noting, “With the rise of the smartphone and instant streaming, many adolescents can now access vast libraries of video content—both benign and obscene—at almost any time and place…”
Additionally, the ripple effects of a generation raised on pornography have resulted in young adults believing that violent behavior in sexual encounters is normal—a 2022 study found that one-third of female college students had been choked by a partner in their most recent sexual encounter. This is what has been normalized in a generation exposed to pornography from a young age.
When adults put children first, commonsense rules the day. This decision reinforces the important truth that the rights of children come before the desires of adults. This ruling not only upholds Texas’s law protecting children online but also paves the way for other states’ laws to put kids first and hold the pornography industry accountable for exploiting children online.”