For Immediate Release
June 27, 2025
BREAKING: Supreme Court Says States Can Protect Children from Online Pornography
Family Policy Alliance commends Justice Kagan’s defense of children
Today, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that states can empower parents to protect their kids online by mandating age verification requirements for users to view online pornography in its Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton decision.
Most surprisingly, Family Policy Alliance commends Associate Justice Kagan’s statement in her dissent, which underscored the very reason our states and nation need these laws:
“No one doubts that the distribution of sexually explicit speech to children, of the sort involved here, can cause great harm. Or to say the same thing in legal terms, no one doubts that States have a compelling interest in shielding children from speech of that kind,” Kagan wrote.
In the majority opinion, Justice Thomas wrote that laws like the one at issue in Texas do not violate adult constitutional rights. The Court further affirmed that online age verification technology is the digital equivalent of in-person age verification. Additionally, it held that the need for age verification law is greater online than in person.
The pornography industry, through Free Speech Coalition, had brought suit against the state of Texas over House Bill 1181, a bill protecting children from online exposure to pornography through age verification requirements. Twenty-two other states have also passed laws like H.B. 1181, and this ruling likely gives constitutional credence to those laws as well.
Craig DeRoche, President and CEO of Family Policy Alliance (FPA), responded:
“We are overjoyed that the Supreme Court has reaffirmed a state’s duty to protect its most vulnerable citizens, its children, and partner with their parents to protect them from early exposure to pornographic content on the internet. Even Justice Kagan recognizes the harm this material poses to the next generation. This is the beginning of the end of Big Porn companies corrupting our kids’ views of romance and sexual intimacy. “Today, the average age of first exposure to pornography is between 7 and 13 years old. Research shows that because pornography is completely unregulated on the internet, it has effectively become sex education for most kids, leading to numerous tragic social outcomes like sexual abuse, unplanned pregnancy, increased divorce rates, and human trafficking.
“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing of their children, and that includes when and how they learn about sexual intimacy. This ruling allows states to pass laws like H.B. 1181 that put parents back in the driver’s seat of being the primary educators of their kids and guardians of their innocence.
“We look forward to the long-term positive social impacts of this decision, as kids begin to once again learn about love and sex from their parents, not Big Porn companies who lie to them and addict them to their content. Family Policy Alliance will not rest until every state and the federal government protect kids from exposure to pornography. We thank the Supreme Court for approving our efforts to forever break the malign cultural influence of pornography!”
FPA works to protect children from the dangers of the internet and empower parents to better protect their children online through its Let Parents Parent campaign. With its network of state Family Policy Councils (FPCs), Family Policy Alliance has advanced a total of 23 states laws like H.B 1181. Those states are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming.
Media Contact:
Robert Noland, (719) 308-2822, Media@FamilyPolicyAlliance.com
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Family Policy Alliance advances biblical values through civic engagement for a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished.