LOS ANGELES — An open letter penned by Cherie DeVille for The Daily Beast condemning Utah’s controversial “porn filter” bill was published on Saturday and quoted within hours in a subsequent article by the Salt Lake Tribune with the lawmaker responsible for the bill, Rep. Susan Pulsipher (R-South Jordan), responding to DeVille's concerns.
As XBIZ reported, the bill passed the State Senate earlier this month on a 19-6 vote (with four absences) and would mandate a default “porn filter” on any phones, computers, tablets or any other electronic devices sold in the state starting in 2022.
Members of Utah trade associations, tech company lobbies and free speech groups all advocated against the bill.
If passed, the mandatory filters — from which for-profit, faith-based software companies have been profiting for some time — would have to be activated by default in 2022 if certain additional conditions, attached to the bill as an amendment, are met.
“If you want to monitor what your kid watches on their phone, install parental controls that have existed since AOL,” DeVille wrote to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox “If your kid still manages to watch porn, here’s an idea: Take away their phone. Why does any child need a cell phone anyway? They certainly don’t need the state to parent them.”
The Salt Lake Tribute noted DeVille as claiming "the legislation will do nothing to shield Utah children and is actually an attempt to prevent the socially conservative state’s adults from viewing pornography. And she questioned why the legislation singles out sexually explicit content, when violent video games and television shows can also have a damaging effect on children."
Pulsipher refuted DeVille's claims.
“[The bill] doesn’t take the place of good parenting. It doesn’t take the place of family rules or family discussions,” she told the Tribune. “It’s just a tool to help good parents be good parents... nothing would prevent adults from deactivating the content blockers and viewing pornography if they chose."
Cox is expected to decide whether to sign or veto the bill this week.
“If you want Republicans to focus more on creating legislation around real issues, defend the free speech of the pornographers whose profession conservatives oppose,” DeVille wrote in her open letter to Cox. “Remind conservatives that free speech means free speech for everyone, especially those you oppose.”
Find DeVille's open letter here and the Salt Lake Tribune article, with Susan Pulsipher's response, here.
"I would like to thank The Daily Beast once again for letting me speak my mind," the performer said. "I also want to thank The Salt Lake Tribune for picking up on my letter. I hope this exposure will urge Gov. Cox to veto this bill and protect freedom of speech and the livelihoods of adult performers."
Follow Cherie DeVille on Twitter for the latest updates.
Image source (left): Utah State Representative Susan Pulsipher. Photo: Utah House of Representatives.