AUSTIN, Texas — Chaturbate’s parent company, Multi Media, has reached a settlement with Texas regarding the state’s controversial age verification law, HB 1181.
As XBIZ reported, last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed lawsuits against Multi Media and against xHamster’s parent company, claiming that the sites were not complying with HB 1181.
Paxton asked a Travis County judge to order Chaturbate to pay $1.78 million, plus $10,000 per day since the filing.
According to the settlement, announced Friday, since Chaturbate implemented the age verification required by Texas law “promptly” after the filing of Paxton’s lawsuit, “the parties’ respective counsel conferred and agreed to the terms of a final order that fully resolves the issues alleged in the State’s Petition.”
Chaturbate agreed to pay a $675,000 civil penalty. Each of the parties paid its own court costs and attorney fees.
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. It 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.
AG Paxton’s action against Chaturbate was the first attempt by state authorities to target a cam site, after a slew of statements by HB 1181 proponents admitting the law had Pornhub as its main target.
On April 12, Free Speech Coalition (FSC) filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Fifth Circuit panel decision that partially upheld HB 1181, while striking down its mandatory, pseudoscientific “health warnings” mandate.