By S.A. McCarthy, Washington Stand. (photo: Louis Velazquez)
Republican lawmakers are promoting legislation aimed at bringing down the pornography industry by updating obscenity laws for the 21st century. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA) last week, clarifying the definition of “obscenity” as used in the 1934 Communications Act.
The bill would define as obscene any “picture, image, graphic image file, film, videotape, or other visual depiction that … taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion” or “depicts, describes, or represents, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or lewd exhibition of the genitals, with the objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person,” and also “lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” The bill would also remove the requirement that communications — such as websites, social media posts, emails, etc. — have the “intent to abuse, threaten, or harass another person” in order to be considered obscene.