The Supreme Court handed the pornography industry a crushing defeat last Friday after it upheld a Texas law requiring age verification to access adult content. 

The 6-3 decision affirmed a lower court’s ruling and will require users to verify that they are 18 years or older before accessing adult content. The decision will have a far-reaching effect on the pornography industry and laws regulating obscene content more broadly.

The majority affirmed states rights to prevent minors from accessing ‘obscene content’. “Age-verification laws … fall within States’ authority to shield children from sexually explicit content. The First Amendment leaves undisturbed States’ traditional power to prevent minors from accessing speech that is obscene from their perspective,” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote. “That power necessarily includes the power to require proof of age before an individual can access such speech.” 

Social conservatives and opponents of the pornography industry took to social media to tout the decision as a major victory. (RELATED: Wisconsin Apprenticeships Face Legal Limits)

Writing for the dissent, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan warned of the ‘chilling effect’ the ruling would have on free speech. Civil liberties advocates decried the decision as well, saying that it ‘reduces adults to children’. (RELATED: Affirmative Action Program Ends After Court Ruling)

The Supreme Court’s decision will have a far-reaching impact outside of Texas, as 19 states have already passed similar age verification laws and numerous other states are weighing doing so.

In addition to its extensive lobbying efforts, the adult entertainment industry has taken aggressive action to protest age verification laws. Over the last two years, major adult content website Pornhub has blocked