US Supreme Court

Today the US Supreme Court will hear case No. 23-1122 Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas. The case hears arguments on people's access to protected speech. The arguments are whether the court of appeals erred as a matter of law in applying rational-basis review to a law burdening adults' access to protected speech. Texas enacted H.B. 1181, a law regulating commercial entities that publish or distribute material on internet websites, including social media platforms, where more than one-third of the content is sexual material harmful to minors. The law requires these entities to implement age verification methods to limit access to adults and display specific health warnings on their landing pages and advertisements. It defines sexual material harmful to minors using a modified version of the Miller test for obscenity. Shortly after the law was enacted but before it took effect, the plaintiffs sued, claiming H.B. 1181 violates their First Amendment rights and, for some plaintiffs, conflicts with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.