United States of America: Announced Lawsuit against Multi Media LLC for alleged non-compliance with Texas Age Verification Law (HB 1181)

On 19 March 2024, the Texas Attorney General (AG) filed a lawsuit against Multi Media LLC, a pornography distribution company, for violating the age verification requirements established by Bill 1181. The Bill mandates reasonable age verification measures to protect minors from exposure to obscene materials. Multi Media LLC, which operates Chaturbate, is accused of presenting minors with pornographic content without allegedly implementing the required age verification systems. The AG is seeking an injunction against Multi Media LLC to enforce appropriate age verification safeguards and impose civil penalties for non-compliance. The lawsuit follows the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from November 2023, which allowed Texas to enforce the Bill. Companies that fail to comply with age verification requirements may be fined up to USD 10'000 per day. They may also face an additional fine of USD 10'000 per day for illegally retaining identifying information and USD 250'000 if a child is exposed to pornographic content due to inadequate age verification.