AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed lawsuits on Tuesday against the parent companies of Chaturbate and xHamster, claiming that the sites are not complying with the state’s controversial age verification law, HB 1181.
Paxton filed the two lawsuits in Travis County, alleging that the companies “are not doing enough to stop those younger than 18 from looking at the adult content,” local NBC station KXAN reported. News of the lawsuit was first flagged within the adult community by industry attorney Corey Silverstein.
The Texas lawsuit against xHamster states, “The age verification methods used by the Defendant on its websites cannot be said to verify anything at all, and they wholly fail to comply with the requirements of Chapter 129B.
“Minors can simply click almost anywhere on the webpage away from the ‘I’m 18 or older’ button, including the ‘X’ in the top right corner of the message, to dismiss the pop-up message and proceed to the Defendant’s pornographic website,” the lawsuit alleges.
The state is asking the court to require xHamster to pay a civil penalty of up to $1.67 million plus $10,000 per day since the lawsuit’s filing, and Chaturbate to pay $1.78 million along with $10,000 per day since the filing, KXAN reported.
AG Enforcing a Law Written by His Wife and Their Minister
HB 1181 was authored by Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, reportedly with input from pastor Mike Buster of the Prestonwood Baptist megachurch, to which the Paxtons belong.
Angela Paxton has repeatedly taken ownership of the law her husband is enforcing. Following Aylo’s recent decision to block access to Pornhub in the state due to the law, she posted on X, “My bill created an age verification requirement for online pornography websites in Texas to protect minors from accessing their harmful content. After insistent fighting against it, the pornography industry is being forced to comply with the law.”
The action against Chaturbate appears to be the first attempt by state authorities to target a cam site, after a slew of statements by the state law’s proponents admitting the law had Pornhub as its main target.
As XBIZ reported, Paxton previously filed a lawsuit against Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, alleging the company was in violation of HB 1181, which at that time also mandated that adult websites post a “health warning” perpetuating religious anti-porn propaganda myths.
Earlier this month, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled against that provision, striking down the “health warnings” requirement as unconstitutionally forced speech while lifting the injunction on the rest of the law.
HB 1181 was passed by the Texas legislature in May 2023 and is a much-augmented version of Louisiana’s age verification law and its many copycats. At the time, the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) condemned the law — along with similar laws passed in Louisiana, Utah, Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas and Montana — as “blatantly unconstitutional” and a “violation of the First Amendment rights of creators, consumers and platforms.”
In August 2023, FSC filed a legal challenge in Texas over HB 1181, which is still ongoing, even after the 5th Circuit ruling. Joining FSC as co-plaintiffs were an array of adult platforms and workers, including MG Premium LTD; MG Freesites LTD (now Aylo companies); Webgroup Czech Republic, A.S.; NKL Associates, S.R.O.; Sonesta Technologies, S.R.O.; Sonesta Media, S.R.O.; Yellow Production S.R.O.; Paper Street Media, LLC; Neptune Media, LLC; Mediame SRL; Midus Holdings, INC.; and Jane Doe, an adult content creator.
Paxton missed a portion of that litigation because he was being impeached by a bipartisan coalition in the Texas legislature over charges of corruption and had temporarily been replaced as AG. He was later acquitted after several Republicans who had initially voted to impeach him voted in his favor at his impeachment trial.
Industry Attorney: Lawsuits Show Disdain for Free Speech
Silverstein told XBIZ the lawsuits "demonstrate nothing but the State of Texas’ disdain and disrespect for freedom of speech. Under the guise of protecting minors, these age verification laws are nothing more than an attempt by government to control what content we can and cannot see. If anyone is still in denial that the industry is under attack, it should now be abundantly clear."
Silverstein urged industry stakeholders to "come together as one industry to stop this madness."
"These laws are passed by religious zealots who have no respect for the First Amendment, which is ironic since these same zealots rely so heavily on the First Amendment for their own causes," he added. "This law is headed to the doorstep of the Supreme Court, and I hope that the court will have to wisdom to put an end to this craziness and affirm our bedrock First Amendment principles and existing case law. It’s especially frustrating that the state of Texas would choose to pursue Chaturbate and xHamster when the law they are attempting to enforce is already being challenged. If I were a taxpayer in Texas, I would not be in a pleasant mood today."