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TOPEKA — A pair of lawsuits quietly fell apart, and with them, at least for now, a piece of Kansas’ effort to enforce age verification online. The question left hanging is a familiar one: how far can a state’s reach really go on the internet?
The recent dismissal of two lawsuits against pornographic websites over Kansas’ age verification requirements raises uncertainty about how the law can be enforced after a federal judge ruled that the Constitution does not allow the companies to be sued in Kansas because they are based outside the state.
U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter dismissed the cases, finding that the websites — headquartered in Washington state and Canada — did not purposefully operate in Kansas or establish sufficient ties to the state.
Her Feb. 10 order relied on constitutional principles that limit a state court’s authority over non-residents under the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of due process.
The lawsuits were among four filed by an anti-pornography group on behalf of an anonymous 14-year-old boy from Olathe, identified in court filings as “Q.R.” The boy’s mother alleged that her son accessed pornographic websites operated by the companies, in violation of a 2024 Kansas law requiring age verification for users.
Attorneys representing defendant Titan Websites said the ruling reinforces limits on state authority.
“The court found that due process requires more of a defendant than merely making a website available in a state before being subject to that state’s laws,” attorneys Jeff Sandman and Max Kautsch said in a written statement.
Legal representatives for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which brought the lawsuits on behalf of the Olathe boy, said at the time of the ruling that they disagreed with the decision and were considering an appeal. No appeal was filed before the deadline, and the organization has not responded to subsequent requests for comment.
“These cases are just at the beginning stages,” Dani Pinter, director of the legal division for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in a February statement.
In a related case, another company sought dismissal on similar jurisdictional grounds, but that request was denied. A fourth lawsuit tied to the same claims was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs.
Separately, a lawsuit filed by Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach against several pornographic websites is continuing after a motion to dismiss based on jurisdiction was denied.
Kobach’s office has not responded to multiple requests for comment regarding that case.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly allowed the age verification bill to become law in 2024 without her signature, citing legal and constitutional concerns. The measure passed with bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Under the law, companies could face damages exceeding $50,000 if a court determines that minors were harmed by accessing their sites.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas could enforce a similar age verification law. Opponents of such laws have argued they impose burdens on adults seeking to access content protected under the First Amendment.
Mike Stabile, director of public policy for the Free Speech Coalition, said the Kansas ruling highlights ongoing challenges in enforcing these laws, though he expects further legal action could follow.
“These are censorship laws,” Stabile said. “There is a chilling effect in having the threat of litigation. So even though these cases have been dismissed, even though the plaintiffs have failed to appeal, these platforms still have to deal with likely hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.”
Some websites have already restricted access in response to state laws. Pornhub, one of the most widely visited sites globally, has blocked access in multiple states, including Kansas, citing compliance concerns.
Stabile said his organization advises members to comply with applicable laws until courts rule otherwise.
At the same time, early research suggests that while access to major platforms may decline under such laws, traffic may shift elsewhere. One study found increased searches for smaller platforms that do not comply with age verification requirements, along with a rise in searches for virtual private networks, which can bypass geographic restrictions.
Stabile said the broader legal issue remains unresolved: “Can a single state’s law be used to police speech across the entire internet?”
