Amicus Curiae Brief — Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al., Petitioners v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas
Supreme Court briefNov 22, 2024
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No. 23-1122
IN THE
Supreme Court of the United States
FREE SPEECH COALITION, INC., et al.,
Petitioners,
v.
KEN PAXTON, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS,
Respondent.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES
COURT OF A PPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
BRIEF FOR AMICI CURIAE EXODUS CRY,
STAND WITH SURVIVORS, AND PROTECT
YOUNG EYES IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT
A ARON T. MARTIN, JD, PHL
Counsel of Record
MARTIN LAW & MEDIATION PLLC
2415 East Camelback, Suite 700
Phoenix, AZ 85016
(602) 812-2680
aaron@martinlawandmediation.com
Attorneys for Amici Curiae
130718
A
(800) 274-3321 • (800) 359-6859
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TABLE OF CITED AUTHORITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
ARGUMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
I.
The Court Must Consider the Age of Children
Easily Accessing Online Porn and the
Frequency of Consumption of Pornography
by Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
A. Children are Viewing Content that is
Obscene for Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
B. Exponential Increase in Accessible
Content that is Obscene for Children . . . . .10
C. Mainstream Online Pornography
Genres are Actually Obscene for
Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
1.
Pornography Depicting Violent
Rape and Kidnapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
2. Snuff Pornography, a.k.a. Rape and
Murder Pornography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
3. Incest-themed Pornography. . . . . . . . .16
ii
Table of Contents
Page
4. Racist-Themed Pornography . . . . . . . .18
5.
Animal Sexual Abuse Obscene
Pornography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
D. Illegal content is not protected . . . . . . . . . .20
1.
C u r r e nt L a w s u i t s A g a i n s t
Mainstream Pornography Websites
for Illegal Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
2. Companies Cutting Ties with
Pornhub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
iii
TABLE OF CITED AUTHORITIES
Page
Cases
Ginsberg v. New York,
390 U.S. 629 (1968). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Ashcroft v. ACLU,
542 U.S. 656 (2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Statutes and Other Authorities
U.S. Const. Amend. I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
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American College of Pediatricians, “The Impact of
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DFSHGVRUJSRVLWLRQVWDWHPHQWVWKHLPSDFWRI
pornography-on-children#_edn7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Carrotte, Elise, et al., “Sexual Behaviors and
9LROHQFHLQ3RUQRJUDSK\ 6\VWHPDWLF5HYLHZ
and Narrative Synthesis of Video Content
Analyses,” Journal of Medical Internet
Research, 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
([RGXV &U\ ´%H\RQG )DQWDV\ ² (SLVRGH
¶+DUGFRUH·µKWWSV ZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y
19UMI9W)DW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
iv
Cited Authorities
Page
“Children see pornography as young as seven, new
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SUDWWMSJYLHZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Fritz, Niki et al., “A Descriptive Analysis of the Types,
Targets, and Relative Frequency of Aggression
in Mainstream Pornography,” Archives of Sexual
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s10508-020-01773-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Hamilton, Isobel Asher, “Mastercard and Visa
have cut off PornHub from their payment
services,” Business Insider, December 11, 2020,
KWWSV ZZZEXVLQHVVLQVLGHUFRPPDVWHUFDUG
visa-pornhub-cut-off-payments2020-12 . . . . . . . . . .26
Hartford HealthCare, “Do Parents Really Know How
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Cited Authorities
Page
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Memorandum-of-Opinion_Defendants-MTD_
Denied_02.09.22.pdf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
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owner-michael-pratt-extradited-face-sex WUDIÀFNLQJFKDUJHV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
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SRUQKXESLHFHVRIFRQWHQWE\IRUPDW . . . . . . . . . . .10
Kristof, Nicholas, “The Children of Pornhub,”
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OLIHSODQRUJWKHSRUQSDQGHPLF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Matt Morrissey, “How Early Porn Exposure
Traumatizes Boys and Fuels an Unhealthy
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vi
Cited Authorities
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Nat iona l Cent er on S ex ua l Ex ploit at ion,
“Pornhub’s ‘Transparency Report’ Is Another
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t r a n sp a r enc y-r ep or t - a c t s - a s - a not he r DGPLVVLRQRIJXLOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 26
Nealon, Lina, “Pornhub Just Got Kicked off
I n s t a g r a m , Yo u T u b e , a n d T i k T o k —
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Heidi Olson, “How Porn Grooms Children to Accept
9LROHQFH DQG $EXVH LQ 5HODWLRQVKLSVµ KWWSV
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to-accept-violence-and-abuse-in-relationshipsheidi-olson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
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Child Sexual Assault,” Culture Reframed,
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RISRUQRJUDSK\RQFKLOGVH[XDODVVDXOW . . . . . . . . . .9
Heidi Olson, Paradigm Shift, “Forensic Files,”
KWWSV SDUDGLJPVKLIWWFFRPIRUHQVLFÀOHV. . . . . . .2, 3
Heidi Olson, Testimony to Center for Family and
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ZDWFK"Y :HT-1Y\N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 4, 6
vii
Cited Authorities
Page
Natalie J. Purcell, Violence and the Pornographic
Imaginary: The Politics of Sex, Gender,
and Aggression in Hardcore Pornography.
1HZ<RUN 5RXWOHGJH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Review and Narrative Synthesis of Video Content
A nalyses,” Journal of Medical Internet
5HVHDUFK H GRL . . . .5
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Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7, 8, 19
Statista, “Amount of content uploaded to Pornhub
worldwide in 2nd half 2023, by format,” . . . . . . . . . .10
Statista, “Most popular pornographic websites
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U.S. Sup. Ct. R. 37.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
viii
Cited Authorities
Page
US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of
Ca l i for n i a , “ T went y-Yea r S ent ence i n
GirlsDoPorn Sex Trafficking Conspiracy,”
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t wenty-yea r - sent ence -g i rlsdopor n- sex WUDIÀFNLQJFRQVSLUDF\ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Vannier, Sarah, et al., “Schoolgirls and Soccer
Moms: A Content Analysis of Free ‘Teen’ and
‘MILF’ Online Pornography,” Journal of Sex
Research, 51(3), 253–264, 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Wright, Paul, et al., “U.S. Parents Underestimate
Their Children’s Pornography Use and Learning,”
Archives of Sexual Behavior October 6, 2022,
KWWSV GRLRUJV . . . . . .7, 8
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1
INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE1
Exodus Cry, established in 2008, is a nonpartisan,
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and commercial sexual exploitation. Exodus Cry targets
the root of these injustices by shifting culture through
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to change laws, and transforming the lives of victims
through outreach and trauma therapy. Exodus Cry
has screened its documentaries at parliaments, before
U.S. Congress, and at the United Nations. Exodus Cry
supports upholding the Texas law at issue here because
it seeks to remedy the way children’s lives are being
damaged by the pornography industry, making them
more vulnerable to becoming victims, and perpetrators,
of commercial sexual exploitation.
Stand With Survivors is a national network of activists
that supports survivors in the courtroom and beyond.
Founded in 2014, Stand With Survivors has provided
vital support for survivors at trials for Bill Cosby, Harvey
Weinstein, Danny Masterson, and other high-profile
predators who mobilize their fans to harass survivors.
Stand With Survivors specializes in uplifting brave
survivors who speak truth to power through advice about
security and safety, media-response training, mentalhealth preparation for trial, and simply showing up. This
case interests Stand With Survivors because research
shows that children who consume pornography become
1. In accordance with Rule 37.6, no counsel for a party
authored this brief in whole or in part, nor did any person, other
than amici curiae, their members, or their counsel, make a
monetary contribution that was intended to fund the preparation
or submission of this brief.
2
more susceptible to sexual exploitation and sexual violence
later in life.
Protect Young Eyes helps families, schools, and
churches create safer digital spaces with live presentations,
a school digital wellness curriculum, and app and device
set-up guides. Protect Young Eyes speaks with thousands
of parents annually and feels the weight of their struggles
to prevent their children from being exposed to lifealtering pornographic content. Protect Young Eyes has an
interest in this case because parental controls alone are
not enough to prevent these harms and are complicated,
expensive, and often incompatible with the most popular
portable smart devices, like iPhones.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
Heidi Olson, a respected sexual-assault nurse
examiner in Kansas City, noticed a horrifying trend
among her young sexual assault victims. They were being
sexually assaulted by other children. 2 Olson specializes in
assisting and collecting forensic evidence from the bodies
of child sexual-assault victims. After reviewing data from
hundreds of child sexual-assault cases, she noticed an
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her children’s hospital were sexually assaulted by other
children between the ages of 10 to 15. 3 The only common
risk factor she found was their exposure to pornography.4
2. Heidi Olson, Paradigm Shift ´)RUHQVLF )LOHVµ KWWSV
SDUDGLJPVKLIWWFFRPIRUHQVLFÀOHV
3. Heidi Olson, Testimony to Center for Family and Human
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4. Id.; see also Paradigm Shift ´)RUHQVLF )LOHVµ KWWSV
SDUDGLJPVKLIWWFFRPIRUHQVLFÀOHV
3
She shares an example of a teenage perpetrator that
acted out a pornographic video he saw, scene by scene,
by strangling, repeatedly raping, ejaculating on the child
victim’s face, and calling her derogatory names before
leaving her lying there. 5 Olson clearly demonstrates that
mainstream pornography grooms children and teens to
accept abuse6 by sharing that “many times, when violence
like strangulation is disclosed, girls minimize it as ‘not a
big deal’ or ‘maybe he thought it was sexy.’” 7
As of June 2024, nineteen states have passed age
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The American public is becoming aware of the harms of
online pornography on children and teens and they are
taking action to protect children from pornography.
Mainstream pornographic websites that host obscene
and illegal content are largely operating unregulated
and without safeguards for children and teens. Obscene
material is more easily accessible for children now than
when Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629 (1968)was
decided. Even in 2004, when Ashcroft v. ACLU, 542 U.S.
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5. See id.
6. Heidi Olson, “How Porn Grooms Children to Accept
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7. Id.
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4
blogging was a new thing; smartphones did not exist;
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computer was in a public area in the house; Facebook
launched; iTunes and LinkedIn were only a year old; and
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was the dominant operating system at the time. Now,
with more than 400 million web pages of obscene material
online, safeguards for children and teens are long overdue.
First, the Court should consider the disturbingly
young age of children accessing obscene content directly
from pornographic websites. Children and teens are
intentionally and unintentionally viewing obscene
pornographic content while on their personal devices,
school devices, and friends’ devices, 9 among others.
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to prevent children and teens from this content. Second,
the Court must realize the sheer quantity of obscene
content that is accessible to children and teens. It is no
longer a question of a few Hustler or Playboy magazines
safeguarded behind shelves in local stores. With more
than 40 million obscene pornographic websites available
within seconds, the wellbeing of our children and teens
must be the Court’s priority. Third, and arguably the most
essential argument that is crucial to the Court’s decision,
is understanding that mainstream online pornography
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child sexual abuse, commercial sexual exploitation, and
illegal content that encourages criminal sexual behavior–
child sexual abuse and domestic sexual abuse among
children.
9. Heidi Olson, Testimony to Center for Family and Human
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5
ARGUMENT
I.
The Court Must Consider the Age of Children
Easily Accessing Online Porn and the Frequency
of Consumption of Pornography by Children
Pornographic magazines and videos used to be sold
from behind a store counter or in packaging that obscured
the cover of the magazine or video. They were, in short,
treated like alcohol and cigarettes—things that society
has determined are harmful to children. Pornographic
materials sold in a brick-and-mortar store required the
buyer to present an ID or verify their age to purchase.
But those days are gone.
Now children can access pornographic content—
including videos, photos, and even animated cartoons—
without cost, and in a matter of seconds.10 But access is
not the only thing that has changed. Now, instead of a
Playboy Bunny, mainstream online pornography often
depicts violent, misogynistic, ableist, racist, abusive, and
at times non-consensual illegal sexual abuse. And children
are exposed to it all.
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but the most recent reports all show a similar pattern
10. Carrotte, Elise, et al., “Sexual Behaviors and Violence
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Video Content Analyses,” Journal of Medical Internet Research,
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least 12 categories of pornography); see also Vannier, Sarah, et al.,
“Schoolgirls and Soccer Moms: A Content Analysis of Free ‘Teen’
and ‘MILF’ Online Pornography,” Journal of Sex Research, 51(3),
253–264, 2014 (a study discussing two of the many categories of
online pornography).
6
of children being exposed to online pornography at
increasingly younger ages and unprecedented rates.11
Most reports show that the average age of exposure to
online pornography is 11,12 while other reports show the
average age is as young as 7 or 8.13 One recent report from
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online pornography at age 10 or younger. An additional
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turning 11 years old,14 PHDQLQJ WKDW PRUH WKDQ
of teens viewed pornographic material online.15 Taken
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exposure to online pornography for children is between
the ages of 7 and 11.
11. Heidi Olson, Testimony to Center for Family and Human
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12. Matt Morrissey, “How Early Porn Exposure Traumatizes
Boys and Fuels an Unhealthy Perception of Masculinity,” KWWSV
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14. American College of Pediatricians, “The Impact of
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15. Hartford HealthCare, “Do Parents Really Know How Many
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7
A.
Children are Viewing Content that is Obscene
for Them
Store-bought pornographic magazines and videos
are a thing of the past. Now, the internet has made a vast
array of pornographic content free and easily accessible
for children.16 Children of prior generations at least had
the safeguard of a store clerk behind a counter to check
ID. But even that minimal protection is more than children
have now when the amount of pornography is far greater
and the type of pornography is far worse.
And children had to go looking for pornography
in the past. Now, children are not always seeking out
pornography when they find it. It often finds them
by mistake. The lack of meaningful age verification
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website is leading to an exponential increase in exposure.
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of the children surveyed reported they were accidentally
exposed to online pornography within the past week.17
This percentage represented the majority of the children
participating in the survey, indicating that accidental
exposure is a common occurrence for children.
Websites selling alcohol and tobacco have nominal age
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16. Wright, Paul, et al., “U.S. Parents Underestimate Their
Children’s Pornography Use and Learning,” Archives of Sexual
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02449-7.
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8
click to say they are 18 or 21 years old, the consequences
are small. Children do not report “accidental” exposure to
alcohol on Total Wine’s website. They are not permanently
scarred by seeing a picture of a wine bottle on a website.
For pornography, the stakes are far higher and even a
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In studies regarding teens who were regularly and
intentionally seeking out pornography, the teens reported
they are more likely to consume pornography on websites,
for example, Pornhub or YouPorn.18 Alarmingly, of the
teens who did report to intentionally consuming online
SRUQRJUDSK\ UHSRUWHGWKH\GRVRRQDZHHNO\EDVLV19
Because unrestricted access to pornography is ubiquitous,
children and teens are accessing online pornography at
unprecedented levels.
Technology advances rapidly. Not only that, the
average parent, caregiver, guardian, group-home
supervisor, or foster parent cannot constantly monitor
new websites, understand device restriction loopholes,
and respond to changes in advanced website algorithms.
Many parents and guardians are completely unaware
that their children are intentionally or accidentally
viewing online pornography on a weekly basis. 20 Due to
shame, poor communication within familial structures,
misunderstanding of the accessible content and the
harmful effects of pornography on children, or other
18. Id. at 12.
19. Id.
20. Wright, Paul, et al., “U.S. Parents Underestimate Their
Children’s Pornography Use and Learning,” Archives of Sexual
%HKDYLRU 2FWREHU KWWSV GRLRUJV
02449-7.
9
factors, many children are not comfortable or are unable
to communicate with their parents or caregivers about the
online pornography they are being exposed to.
Through her medical practice, nurse Heidi Olson
stated that “[m]ost adults are entirely unaware of how
violent mainstream porn is, how many of our kids are
watching it, and that it has proven harmful effects on
children.” 21)RUH[DPSOHDVWXG\VKRZHGWKDW
of caregivers did not believe their children had viewed
SRUQRJUDSK\RQOLQHEXWRIWKHLUFKLOGUHQUHSRUWHG
having viewed it. 22 Hartford Healthcare reported that half
of parents are unaware that their children are consuming
online pornography and “that teens have seen up to 10
times more pornography than their parents believe.”23 The
same study shows that parents are especially unaware of
their teens’ exposure to extreme content, such as violent
porn or scenes depicting child sexual abuse, incest, teen
porn, rape, physical abuse or aggression, and animal
sexual abuse, which are all accessible within seconds
through a simple Google search.
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22. “Children see pornography as young as seven, new report
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EEIFFRXNDERXWXVQHZVFKLOGUHQVHHSRUQRJUDSK\DV\RXQJDV
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23. Hartford HealthCare, “Do Parents Really Know How Many
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a W H [ W 5 H F H Q W V W X G L H V L Q G L F D W H
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10
B. Exponential Increase in Accessible Content
that is Obscene for Children
Parallel to the exponential increase in the number of
children accessing online pornography is the explosion
in the amount of accessible content in the last ten years.
$OWKRXJKLWLVGLIÀFXOWWRNQRZH[DFWO\KRZPXFKRQOLQH
pornography there is, a recent study showed that there
are an estimated 42 million pornographic websites,
FRQVWLWXWLQJDERXWRIDOOLQWHUQHWZHEVLWHV 24 These
websites host an estimated 428 million pages of online
SRUQRJUDSK\WKHPDMRULW\RIZKLFK³³LVKRVWHGLQ
the United States. Pornhub is one of the largest and most
viewed online pornography websites. Pornhub reported
5.4 billion monthly visits in 2023. 25 In the second half of
2023 alone, 1,099,082 pornographic videos and 594,210
photos were uploaded to its site. 26 The second largest
online pornographic website, XVideos, reported an
average of 4.02 billion visits per month so far in 2024. 27
/LIH3ODQ ´7KH 3RUQ 3DQGHPLFµ KWWSV ZZZOLIHSODQ
RUJWKHSRUQSDQGHPLF
25. Statista, “Most popular pornographic websites worldwide
DV RI 0D\ E\ WRWDO YLVLWVµ KWWSV Z Z ZVWDWLVWDFRP
VWDWLVWLFVPRVWYLVLWHGSRUQZHEVLWHVZRUOGZLGH
26. Statista, “Amount of content uploaded to Pornhub
ZRUOGZLGHLQQGKDOIE\IRUPDWµKWWSV ZZZVWDWLVWDFRP
VWDWLVWLFV SRUQKXESLHFHVRIFRQWHQWE\IRUPDW
27. Statista, “Most popular pornographic websites worldwide
DV RI 0D\ E\ WRWDO YLVLWVµ KWWSV Z Z ZVWDWLVWDFRP
VWDWLVWLFVPRVWYLVLWHGSRUQZHEVLWHVZRUOGZLGH
11
C.
Mainstream Online Pornography Genres are
Actually Obscene for Children
A recent content analysis of videos from Pornhub and
;9LGHRVUHSRUWHGWKDWRI3RUQKXEVFHQHVDQG
of XVideos scenes included at least one act of physical
aggression. 28 The most common forms of violence were
spanking, gagging, slapping, hair pulling, and choking. 29
0HQ LQÁLFWHG WKH YLROHQFH LQ RI WKH VFHQHV LQ ERWK
Pornhub and XVideos and women were the victims of
WKH YLROHQFH LQ RI WKH VFHQHV 30 More disturbingly,
WKHZRPHQUHVSRQGHGZLWKSOHDVXUHRUQHXWUDOLW\ RI
the time. 31
Although these videos may be included in “mainstream”
pornography for adults, they are obscene for children.
Violent pornography promotes the belief that the acts of
physical violence—sometimes criminal acts of violence—
should be enjoyed during sex acts. Max Hardcore, the porn
industry’s late AVN Hall of Fame director and performer,
SRSXODUL]HGDEXVLYHYLROHQWSRUQRJUDSK\+LVÀOPVKDYH
depicted young women, many dressed as children with
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slapped, urinated on, and vomiting. In other scenes, Max
Hardcore dressed these young women, many of whom
28. Fritz, Niki et al., “A Descriptive Analysis of the Types,
Targets, and Relative Frequency of Aggression in Mainstream
3RUQRJUDSK\µ$UFKLYHVRI6H[XDO%HKDYLRU
GRL V
29. Id.
30. Id.
31. Id.
12
were teenagers and brand new to the adult industry, in
school uniforms, pink ribbons, and pigtails. These girls
would then skip into their scenes where Max Hardcore,
or another performer, would pursue them, abduct them,
torture them, and then depict raping them. Eric Swiss,
a current pornography performer who specializes in
hardcore violent pornography, was interviewed in the
documentary Beyond Fantasy: Ep 3: Hardcore. When
asked what he would do if he came across a situation
where a girl on a set is visibly disturbed or feeling like
something is not right with her, he replied “I’ll borrow
my mentor’s [Max Hardcore] words here, I’ll just usually
steamroll her over.” 32
1.
Pornography Depicting Violent Rape and
Kidnapping
Using the term “rape” is complicated when referring
to pornography. However, online pornography depicting
rape is one of the most popular and viewed genres of
sexual-violence pornography. With more than hundreds of
WKRXVDQGVRISDJHVZHEVLWHVRIUDSHIDQWDV\SRUQRJUDSK\
it is also one of the most accessible. Pornography
producers and directors claim to have obtained “consent”
from those involved in rape-fantasy pornography scenes,
but pornography websites are not required to show proof
of consent.
Moreover, when a teen girl who is depicting a child is
pursued, captured, yanked by her hair, slapped around
and then violently penetrated by a male aggressor in a
([RGXV&U\´%H\RQG)DQWDV\²(SLVRGH ¶+DUGFRUH·µ
KWWSV ZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y 19UMI9W)DW
13
dirty park bathroom, that video sends a message that this
is acceptable male behavior rather than a crime scene.
It is highly unlikely that children could understand that
these scenes are designed to make young women appear
to be underage, even prepubescent in some cases, and
that a real-life scenario would demand that they scream
for help, not endure it or learn to enjoy it.
Unfortunately, the message being conveyed to
children in videos such as these is that this is normative
sexual behavior. Additionally, they learn not only to be
the victims, but also the perpetrators. These violent
pornographic videos promoting criminal activity are not
anomalies; they are the norm.
With a simple Google search of “abuse porn,” more
WKDQ UHVXOWV DUH LQVWDQWO\ DYDLODEOH 7KH ÀUVW
website option, Pornhub, boasts 61,459 videos under the
title “18andabused.” Another popular website, RapeLust.
com, self-advertises on the Google search page as “Watch
sexual abuse rape porn now in HD. See the best sexual
abuse sex videos for free. Your best free forced porn video
website.”
RapeLust.com has tens of thousands of rape-fantasy
videos freely accessible with just two clicks. A popup
warning, which comes up after clicking on their website
from the Google search page, states that their videos
contain “highly explicit sexual activity, violence, blood and
gore, and rape.” One of their most viewed videos titled,
“Paralyzed Girl Abused,” has over 2.9 million views.
Additional videos are equally as deplorable, including
their most viewed “Perfect Beauty Raped in Every Way
Possible” (over 1.5 million views); “Daughter Denying
14
Blowjob Leads to Forced Sex” (over 709,000 views); and
“Whore Raped Beaten and Decapitated” (over 696,000
views). Videos on RapeLust.com rack up millions of views
every week.
The RapeLust.com website is not alone, and in
fact there are several more that host the same type of
pornography. 33 Darknessporn.com, another popular
website that specializes in abuse and rape-fantasy porn,
boasts a shocking 11.78 million monthly visits. On the Google
search page, before even clicking on the Darknessporn.
FRP ZHEVLWH WKH\ GHVFULEH WKHLU YLGHRV LQ WKLV ZD\
“Abuse porn is one rough type of porn. It’s similar to
humiliation and it’s all about degrading and abusing girls,
which doesn’t [sic] enjoy this at all.” With a simple Google
search, numerous other websites containing hundreds of
thousands of rape-themed obscene videos are available. In
addition to RapeLust.com and Darknessporn.com, other
SURPLQHQWZHEVLWHVDUHWLWOHG %HVWUDSHSRUQFRP+HDY\
Rporn.com, Rapeguru.com, Pornrapetv.com, Rapexxx.
net, Brutalporn.com, and Hardcoreincestrapeporn.com to
simply name a few. With thousands of new rape-themed
videos being uploaded every day, it is impossible to know
how many are accessible by children on the internet, but
it is estimated to be in the millions, since there are over
428 million pages of pornography online. And these are
all considered “mainstream.”
33. See KWWSV ZZZVHPUXVKFRPZHEVLWHUDSHOXVWFRP
FRPSHWLWRUV
15
2.
Snuff Pornography, a.k.a. Rape and
Murder Pornography
Snu f f Por n, a lso desc r ibed a s por nog raphy
including murder, abduction, rape, violent interrogation,
strangulation, war, necrophilia, morgue, paralyzed, and
torture porn, is also considered “mainstream” and is
accessible on all major pornography sites, including but
not limited to Pornhub, Xvideos, RapeLust.com, and
;KDPVWHU 7KH &DPEULGJH 'LFWLRQDU\ GHÀQHV D ´VQXII
movie” as “a violent film that shows a real murder.”
However, snuff porn videos more often include descriptors
such as, garrote strangle, sweat necro f**king, necro
bl**job, strangle to unconscious, sleeping and unconscious
molestation, postmortem, morgue, and shooting, with the
murder of the woman or teen happening at the climax of
the video.
6SHFLÀFDOO\3.)6WXGLRVRQO\SURGXFHV6QXII3RUQ
PKF Studios has more than 11,000 videos, including
discussion forums and the option to join a Discord channel
to chat with other consumers of their violent and murderous
content. A video released on PKF Studios website on
December 21, 2022 is titled, “Naughty Schoolgirls,” and
LVGHVFULEHGDV VH[XDOFRQWHQWYLROHQFHQXGLW\WHHQDJH
young, schoolgirl, sexual assault, 2 hangings, bladder
release X2, Necro, dragging, and body views. Another
video released on PKF’s website February 24, 2017 is
titled “F**cked and Killed My Daughter” and is described
RQWKHZHEVLWHDV YLROHQFHWHHQDJH\RXQJLQFHVWH[SOLFLW
VH[XDOFRQWHQW ORWV VWUDQJOLQJQHFNFUXVK TXLFN DQG
body views. PKF boasts a plethora of easily accessible
videos of snuff porn available from a simple Google search.
After entering their site, at the time of this writing,
16
WKH SRSXODU WLWOHV RQ WKHLU KRPHSDJH DUH ´:UDSSHG LQ
Plastic,” “The Hogtie Killer,” “Nice and Dead,” “Strange
Little Sister,” “Loving Sister,” “I F**cked and Killed
My Sister,” and “Strangled and F**cked my Teenage
Daughter.” Of the 11,000 videos on PKF Studio’s website,
Exodus Cry found that the majority of the scenes depicting
murder, sexual assault, garrote strangulation, necro sex,
VH[GXULQJVWUDQJOLQJVWUDQJOLQJQHFNFUXVKKDQJLQJV
body dragging, postmortem sex, spying, stalking, and
unconscious molestation was directed towards women
and teenage girls.
Associate Professor, researcher, and author of
Violence and the Pornographic Imaginary, Natalie J.
Purcell showed through her research that many women
involved in violent pornographic scenes lack the means
needed to keep themselves from being physically abused.34
Many of the scenes Purcell compared were scenes of anus
to mouth “penetration” where the performer was gagged
by oral penetration to the point of gagging, gasping for
air, and sometimes vomiting. They were then penetrated
DQDOO\ZLWKVXFKIRUFHWKDWLWGLVÀJXUHGWKHDQXVHVRIWKH
women. Some of the most popular videos feature this kind
of degradation, in which the directors zoom the camera
in to give an up-close view of the injury, while making
verbally derogatory comments.
3.
Incest-themed Pornography
Another popular “mainstream” genre of pornography
depicts incest. A 2021 report done by the National Center
34. Purcell, Violence and the Pornographic Imaginary:
The Politics of Sex, Gender, and Aggression in Hardcore
Pornography1HZ<RUN 5RXWOHGJH
17
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the content on Pornhub’s homepage was incest-themed. 35
3RUQKXEKDVVHYHUDOVSHFLÀFFKDQQHOVWKDWKRVWDP\ULDG
of such themed videos. My Perv Family is one of the
most popular incest-laden channels on Pornhub. My
Perv Family’s channel has over 691.4 million views and
consists of over 550 videos with titles including “Petite
Lets Step Daddy Pop Her Cherry,” “I Really Want to
F*** My Stepsister,” and “Horny Blonde Stepdaughter
Needs Step Daddy.” At the time of this writing, My Perv
Family’s homepage has videos titled, “Real Dads and
Daughters Sex Videos,” “Moms Teaching their Sons how
to Masturbate,” “Horny Teacher Can’t Help Herself, Has
Sex With Student in Detention,” and “Stepmoms Pimp
their Stepdaughters.”
In 2021 Pornhub released a statement stating “We
prohibit content that depicts sexual activity between
persons related within the collateral and lineal lines of
descent, which also includes, as part of this prohibited
content, content which features sexual activity involving
adopted persons within a lineal or collateral descent
context.” However, it is impossible for young children
and teens to differentiate step-family connections from
blood related family members, particularly because many
children have only experienced a modern blended family
unit with step-parents and step-siblings. It is absurd to
place the burden on a child to decipher who is a bloodrelated sibling and who is a step sibling. Regarding intrafamily sexual abuse, the pertinent question is not if there
35. National Center on Sexual Exploitation, “Pornhub’s
‘Transparency Report’ Is Another Admission of Guilt, April
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how much intra-family sexual abuse happens, but some
studies indicate that one in ten children experiences
some form of sexual abuse. Intra-family abuse accounts
IRUDOPRVWKDOIRIWKRVH:LWKRXWUREXVWDJHYHULÀFDWLRQ
directly on pornographic websites, children are recklessly
accessing incest themed intra-family sexual abuse that
erroneously demonstrates to children that being sexually
abused by a step-sibling or step-parent should not only be
tolerated, but welcomed.
Sexual abuse by a sibling, whether step-sibling or
blood-related, is a form of domestic sexual abuse and should
always be regarded, taught, and presented to children as
such. At the very least, allowing children unrestricted
access to incest-themed content is irresponsible, and goes
directly against government-funded child sexual abuse
campaigns that aim to educate and create a safe space for
child victims of domestic sexual abuse so that they report
and get access to mental health services.
From the highest levels of government, every available
safeguard, including age verification mechanisms on
pornographic websites, should be employed and enforced
to ensure the protection of children from incest-themed
pornography.
4.
Racist-Themed Pornography
Another prominent form of content on Pornhub depicts
racism. On the Google homepage, before entering the
Pornhub website, several links to obscene racist Pornhub
videos pop up, including some titled “Black Slavery Porn
19
Videos,” “African American Slave Porn Videos,” and
´%ODFN6H[6ODYH3RUQ9LGHRVµ2QFHRQWKHVLWHWKHÀUVW
obscene video, with over 67,000 views, is titled, “Hunter
and Farmer Give Slave Double Penetration.” In the
aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis,
videos were uploaded to Pornhub with titles including “I
Can’t Breathe” with search tags that included “George
Floyd” and “Choke-Out.” A study done by Common Sense
5HSRUW VKRZHG ´0DQ\ WHHQV RI FRORU DFURVV GLIIHUHQW
racial and ethnic groups experienced negative feelings
because of these stereotypes.” 36 In particular, Black
respondents were especially likely to have indicated that
having seen a stereotypical portrayal of their identity in
SRUQRJUDSK\ PDGH WKHP IHHO ¶GLVJXVWHG· RU ¶VHOI
FRQVFLRXV· µ 37 African Americans are not the only
community who are victims of obscene racist pornographic
content. Pornhub also has shocking anti-Semitic videos
with titles like, “Jewish Who** Submits to Palestinian
Daddy” and “Jewish Girl Dominated by Palestinian.”
There are several categories of racist videos targeting
Arabs and Muslims, with millions of views, featuring titles
like, “Shy Muslim Girl in Hijab gets F***** by Brothers
Friend,” and another titled “Muslim Step Daughter
Seduced by Rich White Step Dad,” which has over 678,000
views. Thousands of similar titles dominate the Pornhub
search pages.
5REE0% 0DQQ6 7HHQVDQGSRUQRJUDSK\
6DQ)UDQFLVFR&$ &RPPRQ6HQVH
37. Id.
20
5.
Animal Sexual Abuse Obscene
Pornography
Not even animals are safe from the unrestricted
online pornography. A simple Google search of “bestiality
porn” provides a plethora of websites dedicated to sexual
intercourse and oral sex between women, teens, and men
with dogs, horses, cats, rabbits, and pigs. The leading
websites that host bestiality content include LuxureTV.
com, Fapzoo.net, and Beastality.tv. Each website contains
thousands of obscene videos showing the sexual abuse
of animals in sheds, barns, and bedrooms, as well as
women, men, and teens being sexually penetrated by
these animals. Women wearing masks are ordered to
give oral sex to pigs, dogs, and horses while other people
watch and scream derogatory verbal abuse. Other videos
on LuxureTV.com show women naked, tied up, and then
raped by a dog while they scream in agony. It is impossible
to tell how many obscene bestiality videos there are on
these websites since new videos are uploaded every day.
However, one website estimated that LuxureTV.com
hosts over 42,000 videos alone. Watching bestiality porn
is illegal in the state of Oregon and it is illegal to make in
all 50 U.S. states. However, this content is unrestricted
and available for children of all ages with just two clicks.
This is “mainstream” pornography today.
D.
Illegal content is not protected
Pornography websites host illegal obscene content
that is not protected under the First Amendment. A 2020
New York Times article, “The Children of Pornhub,” drew
21
mass attention to the widespread existence of obscene
illegal pornographic content on the Pornhub website. 38
The article, written by Pulitzer Prize winning
journalist Nicholas Kristof, tells the story of 14-year-old
Serena K. Fleites, and how a crush on a boy at school
turned into him convincing Fleites to send him naked
videos of herself. After the boy shared them with other
kids, someone then uploaded them to Pornhub. Due to
the subsequent harassment she faced, she was forced to
change schools, but the news soon traveled to that school
as well. Fleites began cutting herself, skipping school and
took anti-depressants in an attempted suicide. She then
dropped out of school, became addicted to opioids and
became homeless.
Taylor was another victim of child sexual abuse and
shared her story with Nicholas Kristof. Taylor’s boyfriend
secretly recorded them performing sex acts when she was
14 to 15 years old. When she was 15, the explicit videos
were uploaded to Pornhub. She has also attempted suicide,
twice.
Kristof also interviewed Nicole, an additional victim
RIÀOPHGFKLOGVH[XDODEXVHPDWHULDO1LFROH·VODZ\HUVDLG
that there were still at least three explicit videos of Nicole
at age 15 or 16 on Pornhub. She has been trying to get
Pornhub to take them down for two years.
38. Kristof, Nicholas, “The Children of Pornhub,” New
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3RUQKXEZDVKHUVH[WUDIÀFNHU$QDGRSWHHIURP&KLQD
&DOLZDVWUDIÀFNHGE\KHUDGRSWLYHIDPLO\DQGZDVIRUFHG
to appear in obscene pornographic videos, beginning at
age 9. Some of the videos showing her being sexually
abused regularly appear on Pornhub.
The mother of a missing 15-year-old Florida girl found
her daughter on Pornhub, in 58 sex videos, some of which
ZHUHRIKHUVH[WUDIÀFNHUUDSLQJKHU$QRWKHU\HDUROG
LQ&DOLIRUQLDZDVÀOPHGEHLQJVH[XDOO\DVVDXOWHGDQGWKH
videos were easily uploaded to Pornhub. A classmate saw
them and reported them to authorities.
A brave survivor of child rape, Rose Kalemba, was
kidnapped at knifepoint at 14 and raped over a period
of 12 hours. Another man video-recorded the rape while
she was badly beaten, stabbed, and fell in and out of
consciousness. The perpetrators eventually released her
to return home. A few months later, she found videos of
her rape on Pornhub with the videos titled “teen crying
and getting slapped around,” “teen getting destroyed,”
and “passed out teen.” One of the videos had over 400,000
views. Rose sent several emails to Pornhub over a period
of six months, alerting them that she was 14 years old and
that this was sexual assault, begging them to take the
videos down. She never received a response from Pornhub
and the videos remained live for a year. It was not until she
eventually posed as a lawyer in an email and requested
Pornhub to take the child rape videos down, that Pornhub
took them down within 48 hours.
These criminal cases are not anomalies. In 2020
Ruben Andre Garcia was sentenced to 20 years in prison
for conspiring with the owners of the websites GirlsdoPorn
23
and GirlsDoToys to use force, fraud, and coercion to
recruit young women to appear in sex videos for adult
websites, including Pornhub. 39 GirlsDoPorn was a very
popular Pornhub partner channel, a top-20 most viewed
channel on Pornhub, and had 680 million views.
Garcia and his co-conspirators would threaten to sue
WKHYLFWLPVFDQFHOÁLJKWVKRPHDQGSRVWYLGHRVRQOLQHLI
WKH\GLGQRWÀQLVKWKHYLGHRVRQFHWKH\VWDUWHG2ZQHURI
GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys, Michael James Pratt, who
was previously a fugitive and on the FBI’s top ten Most
Wanted Fugitives list,40 was arrested in Madrid, Spain
in 2022 and was extradited to the United States to face
justice.41 Pratt faces 19 felony counts stemming from the
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of a minor by force, fraud, and coercion, and conspiracy
to commit money laundering.42
Illegal content is widespread across pornography
websites and is not limited to Pornhub. There is a consistent
pattern of criminal cases across all pornographic websites.
86 $WWRUQH\·V 2IÀFH 6RXWKHUQ 'LVWULFW RI &DOLIRUQLD
“ T wenty-Year Sentence in GirlsDoPorn Sex Traff icking
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VHQWHQFHJLUOVGRSRUQVH[WUDIÀFNLQJFRQVSLUDF\
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42. Id.
24
There is currently no robust system to reliably prove age
DQG FRQVHQW YHULÀFDWLRQ RI SHUIRUPHUV 7KHUHIRUH DOO
online pornography is subject to scrutiny to know if it is
child sexual abuse material, domestic sexual abuse, rape,
DQGRUVH[XDODEXVH:KHQKDSSHQLQJRIIFDPHUDJHQGHU
based violence, including sexual harassment, stalking,
GRPHVWLFDEXVHUDSHDQGVH[WUDIÀFNLQJDUHQRWGHIHQGHG
on the basis of freedom of expression.
1.
Current Lawsuits Against Mainstream
Pornography Websites for Illegal Content
$FODVVDFWLRQODZVXLWÀOHGLQ)HEUXDU\LQWKH
United States District Court for the Northern District
of Alabama Western Division, against Pornhub and their
parent company Aylo, previously known as Mindgeek,
alleges that the two plaintiffs are victims of childhood
VH[WUDIÀFNLQJ
The lawsuit alleges that Pornhub, and its parent
FRPSDQ\ $\OR SURÀW IURP FKLOG VH[XDO DEXVH PDWHULDO
(CSAM) by profit-sharing with sex traffickers. 43 For
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Model “Suga Daddy Zo” records his commercial sexual
encounters with real prostituted women and uploads them
to Pornhub.44 Many of his videos are titled “On the Hunt
for Hos (The Lost Tapes of Ep. 11) Run-a-way teen” and
“On the Hunt for Hos Ep.16 (Kelvyn Park High School
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D o e -v-M i ndG e ek-F r e e s it e s _ Memor a ndu m - of- O pi n ion _
Defendants-MTD_Denied_02.09.22.pdf
44. Id.
25
Teen) Barely Legal.”45 He has 21,000 subscribers, and 9.7
million views.46
Jane Doe #1 from the lawsuit alleges she was drugged
DQGUDSHGZKHQVKHZDV7KHVDPHPDQWKDWÀOPHG
KHU UDSH KDG HQWHUHG LQWR D SURÀWVKDULQJ DJUHHPHQW
with Pornhub and its parent company Aylo, under their
ModelHub program. One of the two videos uploaded of
her rape was tagged with the word “Lil” to highlight she
was a minor. She alleges that they never attempted to
identify her age.47 Jane Doe #2 from the lawsuit alleges
that she was forced to participate in sexually explicit
videos with adults at the age of 14. These videos were
then uploaded to Pornhub. At least four of the videos have
EHHQLGHQWLÀHGDQGWKHYLGHRVGHSLFWLQJ-DQH'RH·V
child rape remained on Pornhub’s website for at least four
years.48
,Q DQRWKHU FODVV DFWLRQ ODZVXLW ÀOHG LQ WKH &HQWUDO
District of California in November 2023, the Plaintiff
proposed that the class numbers are in the tens of
thousands.49 They also state that the Defendants’ own
records demonstrate the presence of thousands of pieces
of CSAM on their sites. 50
45. Id.
46. Id.
47. Id.
48. Id.
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mindgeek-class-cert-order
50. Id.
26
,Q 3RUQKXE LGHQWLÀHG RYHU SLHFHV RI
content that it states were against their polices, including
“content depicting a minor, non-consensual content, hate
speech, content depicting animal harm, prohibited bodily
ÁXLGVLQFHVWRUYLROHQWFRQWHQWµ51 This is in addition to
Pornhub deleting over 10 million videos after The New
York Times published Nicholas Kristof’s article, “The
Children of Pornhub.”
2.
Companies Cutting Ties with Pornhub
In 2020, Visa and Mastercard announced that they
were terminating their contracts with Pornhub because
WKHLURZQLQYHVWLJDWLRQFRQÀUPHGWKHSUHVHQFHRILOOHJDO
content on the site.52 Pornhub’s accounts have also been
permanently removed and blocked from Instagram,
YouTube, Comcast, and TikTok.53 In 2021, Unilever, Kraft
Heinz, Discover, and PayPal cut ties with Pornhub citing
the increasing evidence of minors being exploited on their
sites. The Texas law is merely one more example of an
attempt to protect children from the harms that many
companies and others have already acknowledged.
51. National Center on Sexual Exploitation, “Pornhub’s
‘Transparency Report’ Is Another Admission of Guilt, April
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WUDQVSDUHQF\UHSRUWDFWVDVDQRWKHUDGPLVVLRQRIJXLOW
52. Hamilton, Isobel Asher, “Mastercard and Visa have
cut off PornHub from their payment services,” Business Insider,
'HFHPEHUKWWSV ZZZEXVLQHVVLQVLGHUFRPPDVWHUFDUG
visa-pornhub-cut-off-payments2020-12
53. Nealon, Lina, “Pornhub Just Got Kicked off Instagram,
<RX7XEHDQG7LN7RN³+HUH·V:K\µ'HFHPEHUKWWSV
HQGVH[XDOH[SORLWDWLRQRUJDUWLFOHVSRUQKXEMXVWJRWNLFNHGRII
LQVWDJUDP\RXWXEHDQGWLNWRNKHUHVZK\
27
CONCLUSION
$JHYHULÀFDWLRQUHTXLULQJPLQLPDOWLPHDQGPLQLPDO
information does not violate an adult’s constitutional
rights. It protects children. With 19 states having recently
SDVVHG DJH YHULÀFDWLRQ ODZV 54 the American public has
made their demand clear. What may be “mainstream” for
some adults is clearly obscene for children, and it should
EHWUHDWHGDVVXFK,WLVSDUDPRXQWWKDWDJHYHULÀFDWLRQ
laws be allowed to do their purpose and keep children
protected from pornographic content.
November 22, 2024
Respectfully submitted,
A ARON T. MARTIN, JD, PHL
Counsel of Record
MARTIN LAW & MEDIATION PLLC
2415 East Camelback, Suite 700
Phoenix, AZ 85016
(602) 812-2680
aaron@martinlawandmediation.com
Attorneys for Amici Curiae
54. See $JH9HULÀFDWLRQ%LOO7UDFNHUKWWSV H[RGXVFU\FRP
SFQSWUDFNHU
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.