Did Texas Just Ban (Adult) Webtoons?

Maybe not just adult webtoons, either.

One side effect of having worked in the adult webtoon industry for so long is that I’m always keeping an eye on how adult content is being policed by western markets. As early as 2021, we started seeing signs that states in the US were preparing legislation seeking to outlaw the production, promotion and dissemination of adult content.

In the US, the earliest instances of vague age verifications laws being passed I could find was Louisiana, followed by Arkansas and Mississippi all in 2023. This year, a representative of Pornhub confirmed that the adult content site had blocked 16 states in the US from accessing their site.

The issue isn’t that Pornhub isn’t willing to use age verification systems, rather that Pornhub would be required to collect large amounts of sensitive personal information and then keep that information secure due to the requirement to use government-issued IDs only.

A similar requirement was put in place in the UK under the Online Safety Act passed in 2023. While there were a few false starts, all websites and apps allowing pornography in the UK are now required to have highly effective methods to check the age of users starting July 25.

The biggest risk to publishers and platforms isn’t just security around sensitive data, it’s the fines and legal ramifications of non-implementation or sub-standard implementation. And while the UK has developed guides and systems to allow for “highly effective” age verification, the US has not, leaving the onus on the platforms and publishers.

The First Domino is Already Down

The UK’s Online Safety Act is currently in full enforcement with a video game adaptation of High School DxD being a standout case. Ads for the game were removed from the UK due to offensive content. Specifically, there were phrases like “gentlemen’s harem”, “titillating” and “boobtastic” in direct reference to characters implied to be under 18.

And, of course, sales of the game itself require age verification due to its BBFC 18 rating.

On Steam thousands of adult-themed games were removed in July after Steam’s policies were updated to reflect rules of payment processors like Visa and Mastercard. Australian group, Collective Shout, took credit for the change along with a similar action on itch.io.

While adult webtoons, anime, and manga often require some form of age check, they haven’t they been included in legislation requiring more robust checks.

Until Texas.

What About Texas?

Senate Bill 20 was passed by the Texas legislature on May 28 of this year and signed into law on June 20th. It just went into effect on September 1, 2025.

The bill criminalizes acts “relating to the creation of the criminal offense of possession or promotion of obscene visual material appearing to depict a child.” The bill goes on to specifically mention the medium of the material being “…a cartoon or animation, or an image created using an artificial intelligence application or other computer software.”

And while Texas previously passed HB1181 in May 2023 requiring age verification for websites with adult content, SB20 is unique in that it references cartoons and animation (which cover anime, manga, comics and webtoons).

As recently as late-August, adult manga publisher JAST USA found themselves banned from the San Japan convention in San Antonio as their content was determined to be “too provocative” for the convention. JAST USA is known for publishing hentai and ecchi in print and digitally through their online platform.

I don’t know what’s more troubling. The fact that JAST USA was banned instead of just being asked to remove problematic materials, or that SB20 had yet to go into effect in August.

A more direct consequence of SB20 is the removal of certain issues of Dragonball being removed from sale in the state of Texas. Fans of the series might remember that the early volumes feature underage age characters in the nude or in their underwear. While the objective of these scenes isn’t titillation, the obscure nature of “obscenity” leaves it up for debate and prosecution.

So… What’s Next?

Right off the top of my head, the folks at Lezhin, TOPCO, and Toomics should be looking at their overseas catalogues. In the cases of TOPCO and Toomics specifically, I’d go so far as to block the state of Texas for their Korean and Japanese language platforms which regularly host “loli” manga from Japan.

While Tapas, Tappytoon, and Manta don’t have quite the same catalogue of adult content, they’ll be wanting to review their own libraries as well. For the most part, SB20 should focus on English content “targeted” at American audiences.

SB20 has teeth, specifically deeming this crime a felony. While a company promoting digital content that crosses SB20 isn’t likely to be jailed, businesses can be fined up to $20,000.

And if that weren’t enough… we have a bigger problem.

House Bill 1181 which was passed in May 2023 and upheld as recently as this past June requires websites with adult content to verify users’ ages using government-issued IDs.

And as I’ve stated previously, in the United States, no system currently exists to verify user ages using government-issued IDs.

While cartoon and animated content wasn’t specifically covered in HB1181, it’s really only a matter of time. And we’re not just talking Texas, we’re talking most conservative states in the US and… that’s not an insignificant piece of the pie.

At a time when adult content is being produced in larger and larger numbers in Korea, the international market is becoming less receptive with a significant amount of legislation targeted at limiting its exposure or sales abroad. Add this to the pile of current webtoon woes and it’s just more of a headache for most of the niche platforms and publishers in Korea.