Joe.My.God. LGBT News
ABC News reports:
Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee has proposed legislation to officially define obscenity, as it relates to free speech, in a move that would essentially make internet pornography illegal in the United States. According to a one-page explanation by the Utah senator, the new legislation would modify the Miller test, a Supreme Court precedent from 1973 which set a way of defining material as sexual or obscene content, affecting the “prurient interest” precedent by an earlier SCOTUS ruling.
While the Miller test included the legal guide of “sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law,” Lee’s proposal would federally codify the Miller test as it relates to internet materials and content. Put simply, the bill would remove First Amendment protections from, and ban the distribution of, adult materials in the whole of the U.S. However, the new obscenity definition included in Lee’s proposal, that the material simply arouses, titillates, or gratifies someone’s sexual desires, is bluntly broad.
Vice News reports:
The Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for workers in the adult industry, and its members are watching Lee’s bill closely because they believe it represents yet another attempt by conservatives to censor speech and expression about sex. Obscenity isn’t constitutionally protected as free speech or expression, and violations of federal obscenity laws are considered criminal offenses. According to Lee, the current standard makes it difficult to define obscenity, let alone prosecute it, especially on the internet.
Mike Lee (R) has just introduced a bill that would fine or imprison any American who posts any “sexual content” on the internet. https://t.co/I5ib9wTupb
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) December 18, 2022