Congressional Republicans are set to unveil new legislation aimed at significantly restricting online pornography and potentially dealing a major blow to the internet porn industry.
The Daily Caller reports that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) have introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act on, a bill designed to create a national definition of obscenity under the Communications Act of 1934. The legislation also seeks to amend the Supreme Court’s 1973 “Miller Test” for determining what qualifies as obscene content.
The proposed legislation would open the door for the prosecution of obscene material disseminated across state lines or from foreign countries. This move could potentially lead to federal restrictions or even bans on online pornography.
Sen. Lee, a strong advocate for tackling internet pornography at the federal level and protecting children from exposure to online porn, stated, “Obscenity isn’t protected by the First Amendment, but hazy and unenforceable legal definitions have allowed extreme pornography to saturate American society and reach countless children. Our bill updates the legal definition of obscenity for the internet age so this content can be taken down and its peddlers prosecuted.”
The Interstate Obscenity Definition Act aims to make obscenity easier to prosecute by modifying the three-pronged approach known as the Miller Test, which was established in the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. California. The current test determines content to be obscene if it appeals to “prurient interests,” describes sexual activity “in a patently obscene way,” and lacks “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”
Lee and Miller’s bill seeks to update this definition by altering the second prong, which currently states that content is obscene if it portrays sexual conduct “in a patently offensive way … specifically defined by the applicable state law.” Instead, their proposed legislation would deem content obscene if it depicts or describes “actual or simulated sexual acts with the objective intent to arouse, titillate or gratify the sexual desires of a person.”
Senator Lee has argued that the Supreme Court’s Miller Test is no longer applicable in an era where pornography is primarily consumed online and easily accessible to children. Background information on the bill states, “Applying a pre-internet standard to the internet era causes serious challenges.”
Representative Miller, the House sponsor of the bill, stated, “Online porn is alarmingly destructive and far outside the bounds of protected free speech under the Constitution. I’m proud to lead this effort in the House with Senator Lee to safeguard American families and ensure this dangerous material is kept out of our homes and off our screens.”
The Interstate Obscenity Definition Act was previously introduced by Sen. Lee in December 2022 and June 2024 but failed to attract any co-sponsors and died in the then-Democratic-controlled Senate. With Republicans now in control of the House and the Senate more evenly split, the bill’s prospects may have improved, although its passage is far from certain.
Read the full bill below:
Read more at the Daily Caller here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
