WASHINGTON — Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah has introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act, which would redefine almost all visual depictions of sex as obscene and therefore illegal.
According to the text of the bill, any visual media that "appeals to the prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion" and "depicts, describes or represents actual or simulated sexual acts with the objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person" would be considered criminal, with visual media defined as a "picture, image, graphic image file, film, videotape, or other visual depiction."
In a statement, Lee decried the lack of specificity in the current legal definition of obscenity, as spelled out in the so-called Miller Test, based upon the 1973 Supreme Court decision in the obscenity case Miller v. California.
"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 said. "Our bill updates the legal definition of obscenity for the internet age so this content can be taken down and its peddlers prosecuted."
This isn't the first time Lee has introduced the bill. It has failed to pass the Senate twice before, in 2022 and 2024.
As pointed out by Gizmodo, Lee's definition would effectively criminalize all pornography, a goal laid out in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 policy blueprint.
Industry attorney Corey D. Silverstein does not foresee Lee's bill making it past the courts, however.
"I can't believe that Sen. Lee is naive enough to think that this bill will become law or survive a constitutional challenge," Silverstein told XBIZ. "Further, he seems to be envisioning a national community standard instead of the 'local community standards' articulated in Miller. So while Sen. Lee continues his fantasies about eliminating sexual content, I expect this bill to fail just as it did in 2022 and 2024."
