Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Multi Media, LLC, and Hammy Media, major pornography companies that operate sites such as “Chaturbate” and “xHamster,” for violating HB 1181, a Texas law that requires reasonable age verification measures to protect minors from being exposed to harmful obscene material.
According to the Attorney General, these companies failed to implement the necessary age verification systems, leading to minors accessing pornographic content without proper screening. Paxton is now seeking an injunction against the companies to enforce appropriate age verification safeguards, with potential civil penalties amounting to millions of dollars for non-compliance.
This legal action follows previous victories for Paxton in enforcing HB 1181, despite challenges from the pornography industry. In November 2023, the Attorney General successfully defended Texas's right to enforce the law, and more recently, he secured a ruling affirming that the age verification requirement does not violate the First Amendment.
In a similar case earlier this year, Texas sued Aylo Global Entertainment, the company behind Pornhub, for violating HB 1181. Instead of complying with the law, Pornhub chose to shut down its operations in Texas.
Companies found to be in breach of HB 1181 face substantial fines, including penalties of up to $10,000 per day for non-compliance with age verification measures and potential fines of $250,000 if a child is exposed to adult content due to inadequate age verification.
Attorney General Ken Paxton reaffirmed his commitment to enforcing HB 1181, stating, "I will continue to aggressively enforce HB 1181. All pornography companies lacking proper age verification safeguards on their sites should consider themselves on notice, because they’re violating Texas law."
The complaints against Multi Media LLC and Hammy Media can be accessed for further details.