The Institute for Family Studies Submits Amicus Brief to SCOTUS in support of age verification of pornography sites

(Charlottesville, VA.)—For Immediate Release

Contact: Chris Bullivant 

AMICUS BRIEF

Free Speech Coalition, Inc., Et Al., v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas

The Institute for Family Studies (IFS) is a leader in a national movement for states to require pornography sites to age verify users to keep kids off platforms that addict and damage them.

In support of a law in Texas that blocks children from accessing materials that are harmful for them, the IFS has submitted an amicus to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Court should find the law constitutional. The IFS argues that since the Court last ruled on requiring age verification for pornography sites in Ashcroft vs ACLU (2004) underage access to pornography (with the invention of smartphones and tube sites) has skyrocketed and that pornography itself has devolved into something more violent and obscene.

This IFS brief was drafted and co-signed by eminent scholars in the relevant fields, namely: Jason S. Carroll, Family Research Director at the Wheatley Institute, Brigham Young University and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies; Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and author of “The Anxious Generation”; Jean M. Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University, and author of more than 180 scientific publications and books; Brad Wilcox, Professor of Sociology and the Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, and the Future of Freedom Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies; Brian J. Willoughby, Professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University.

As the brief demonstrates, there is now a large body of substantial, high-quality evidence and social science to demonstrate that access to pornography harms the mental health of children; it encourages unhealthy sexual behavior, including sexual violence; it is associated with more aggression and less stable relationships; and it can present ongoing challenges with relationship instability and well-being. Age verification laws are a practical step to ensure that pornography companies are not permitted to promote obscenity to minors.

This brief is the latest of major steps that the IFS has taken to help protect kids online. In August 2022, scholars from the IFS, the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), and the Center for Renewing America published a joint policy brief titled, “Protecting Teens from Big Tech: Five Policy Ideas for States,” which called upon lawmakers to apply age verification to pornography sites to block kids from gaining access. In recognition of this work the IFS and EPPC were awarded a joint Heritage Innovation Prize in May 2024.

“As our work has shown, the evidence is overwhelming that access to online pornography is doing extraordinary damage to our kids,” said Michael Toscano, Executive Director of the IFS. “We hope that the Court will uphold this modest measure by the state of Texas to make sure that these companies are not free to prey on children in the Lone Star State.”

Amicus Brief contributor and scholar Jason S. Carroll said, “It is not an overstatement to say that underage minors today have more access to pornography than any generation in history. And the consensus of a growing body of research is that pornography consumption by children and teens is harmful to their healthy development in significant ways.”

This Amicus Brief was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by Boyden Gray PLLC.

Available to read in full here:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-1122/332574/20241122134105177_Final_Social%20Science%20Scholars%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf