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A Bill That Would Redefine ‘Obscenity’ May Destroy the Online Porn Industry Once and For All

A Bill That Would Redefine ‘Obscenity’ May Destroy the Online Porn Industry Once and For All

Last week, Senator Mike Lee proposed the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act, a bill that seeks to redefine what obscenity means nationwide and could have a major impact on the porn industry.

In the proposal, Lee shared that while “obscenity is not protected speech under the First Amendment and is prohibited from interstate or foreign transmission under U.S. law,” it is “difficult to define (let alone prosecute) under the current Supreme Court test for obscenity: the ‘Miller Test.'”

The IODA aims to replace theMiller Test,” which is a set of guidelines for jurors to use when presented with obscenity cases, and included whether the workappeals to the prurient interest,” “depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law” andlacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

The IODA seeks to redefineobscenity” as content thatappeals to the prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion, depicts, describes, or represents actual or simulated sexual acts with the objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person, and, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

This bill, if passed, could have farreaching implications for the porn industry, which relies solely on what the bill defines as “obscene content.” The online porn industry would be unable to publish any of its current content without facing legal ramifications, as its’ work would no longer be protected under the First Amendment. 

On top of the already mounting trouble major pornography sites like PornHub are already facing, this could be the final nail in the coffin for the industry.

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