New GOP bill seeks to take sledgehammer to online porn industry

Congressional Republicans will introduce legislation Thursday that would severely crack down on internet pornography and potentially deal a major blow to the online porn industry.

Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Republican Illinois Rep. Mary Miller’s Interstate Obscenity Definition Act would create a national definition of obscenity under the Communications Act of 1934 and amend the Supreme Court’s 1973 “Miller Test” for determining what qualifies as obscene, according to background on the bill exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The bill would pave the way for the prosecution of obscene content disseminated across state lines or from foreign countries and open the door to federal restrictions or bans regarding online porn. 

“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,” Lee told the DCNF. “Our bill updates the legal definition of obscenity for the internet age so this content can be taken down and its peddlers prosecuted.”

Lee and Miller have been leading advocates in Congress to take on internet pornography at the federal level and protect children from exposure to online porn.

The lawmakers’ bill would make obscenity easier to prosecute by altering the three-pronged approach known as the Miller Test from the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. California, according to the background on the bill. The Miller Test determined content to be obscene if it appeals to “prurient interests,” describes sexual conduct “in a patently obscene way” and lacks “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

Lee and Miller are seeking to update that definition in part by changing the second prong about portraying sexual conduct “in a patently offensive way … specifically defined by the applicable state law.” Instead, their bill would determine content to be 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.”

Lee has justified the legislation in part by arguing that the Supreme Court’s “Miller Test” is no longer applicable in an era where porn is primarily viewed online and easy for children to access.

“Applying a pre-internet standard to the internet era causes serious challenges,” background on the bill obtained by the DCNF argues.

Lee called for a porn ban on the platform X in February. He and Miller introduced the SCREEN Act that month which would require pornographic websites to use age verification technologies to prevent children from being exposed to online porn.

The Utah Republican also unveiled complementary online safety legislation on May 1 to require app stores and developers to verify users’ ages when registering for an account and mandate parental approval for app downloads by minors.

“For too long, Big Tech has profited from app stores through which children in America and across the world access violent and sexual material while risking contact from online predators,” Lee said in a press release.

Lee previously introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act in December 2022 and June 2024. The bill has failed to attract any co-sponsors and died in the then-Democratic-controlled Senate upon introduction in the prior Congresses.

Miller, the House sponsor of the bill, told the DCNF that 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,” Miller said.

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