Adult film industry warns Sen. Mike Lee's obscenity bill could ban online porn
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Sen. Mike Lee at a December news conference in D.C. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a bill last week that would redefine obscenity under the Communications Act of 1934.
- It would define it as content that depicts "actual or simulated sexual acts with the objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person" and lacks artistic or scientific value, according to a summary of the bill released by Lee.
Yes, but: Some porn industry leaders fear it could criminalize online pornography in the U.S.
Background: Obscene materials are not protected by the First Amendment.
- Federal and state courts determine whether content is obscene by using a three-pronged approach called the Miller test, named after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Miller v. California.
- The test asks whether the average person would find the material, taken as a whole, appealing to "prurient interest"; whether it's depicted in "a patently offensive way" and whether it lacks "serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."
- Under the Miller test, according to the bill's summary, obscenity is difficult to define, let alone prosecute.
What they're saying: "It would basically criminalize 99% of nudity and sexually explicit content," Mike Stabile, director of public affairs for the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry, told Axios.
- Stabile said the bill is "tremendously scary" for sex workers who create adult content online.
- Stabile said he doesn't believe the bill has a chance of moving forward, but said people should take it seriously.
Of note: A spokesperson for Lee did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
The latest: Lee also introduced legislation last week that would require commercial porn websites to use age verification technology to bar children from accessing the content, the Deseret News reported.
Flashback: In 2016, Utah became the first state in the nation to declare pornography "a public health crisis." By 2019, more than a dozen GOP-led states had declared similar resolutions, per USA Today.
- In 2017, then-Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill that would allow parties to sue porn companies if children who viewed pornography were harmed by it.