In the latest installment of the dispute between adult content websites and Texas lawmakers, the largest trafficked website for that type of content in the world suspended service to Texans arguing a state law infringes on adults’ rights to access protected speech. In response VPN usage in the state of Texas has increased at a rate faster than anywhere else in the world as evidenced by google trends.
One of the most visited websites in the world, sued Attorney General Ken Paxton last year to block enforcement of a 2023 state law that requires websites that host adult content to institute age-verification measures and display health warnings on its pages.
The site was disabled in Texas after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the age-verification requirement in a ruling that cited a 1968 U.S. Supreme Court decision preventing the sale of obscene materials to minors. The top five Texas locations to see spikes in searches for VPN’s include: Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin, Houston, Waco, Temple, Bryan and San Antonio.
Inreases in searches for VPN’s were also up in El Paso,Harlingen,Weslaco,Brownsville,McAllen,Lubbock,Tler and Longview.
Victoria, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Abilene, Sweetwater, Beaumont and Port Arthur also saw noticeable increases in individuals searching for VPNs. But the question of regulating minors’ access to online material has already been well established, legal experts say, and it stands in sharp contrast to the most recent decision from the 5th Circuit.
The appeals court previously reversed an injunction of a U.S. District Court judge, which had blocked the law from going into effect in August. The 5th Circuit’s temporary stay required adult websites to impose age-verification measures and display health warnings that said the content has been proven to harm brain development.
