A Republican senator aligned with President Donald Trump has introduced a new bill aiming to criminalize pornography, warning against what he sees as its harmful impact on American society.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah, along with Illinois Rep. Mary Miller, unveiled draft legislation they are calling the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA), which seeks to stop the production and dissemination of pornographic material and and to empower prosecutors to act against it by redefining the notion of “obscenity” for the internet era.
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Publicizing IODA, Senator Lee warned: “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.”
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The congresswoman added that she and Lee see it as their mission to “safeguard American families and ensure this dangerous material is kept out of our homes and off our screens.”
Many prominent conservatives, often seen calling out cancel culture on TV and social media, typically make an exception when it comes to pornography and advocate for censorship, most recently framing the debate around its potentially harmful psychological impact on vulnerable younger people.
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The foundation’s “Mandate for Leadership” describes pornography as “the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children” and accuses its purveyors of being “child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women” who sell a product “as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime.”
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But despite the public disapproval, the MAGA movement has often struggled to disassociate itself from the subject of porn, from adult film actress Stormy Daniels playing a central role in Trump’s “hush money” trial last year to Texas Senator Ted Cruz accidentally “liking” steamy tweets and House Speaker Mike Johnson admitting that he and his son monitor each other’s devices for exposure to X-rated content.
* Original Article:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/porn-bill-mike-lee-republicans-b2750132.html