New GOP bill would basically ban porn, experts warn
The Interstate Obscenity Definition Act would rewrite SCOTUS's definition of obscenity. A bill that rewrites the legal definition of "obscenity" could potentially change the internet as we know it. Last week, Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Illinois Rep. Mary Miller reintroduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA), which would redefine what is considered "obscene" material. Obscenity isn't protected by the First Amendment, which enshrines freedom of speech. "It may as well be an outright ban on pornography," adult industry attorney Corey D. Silverstein told Mashable, "because basically, under [Lee's] definition, all adult entertainment, all forms of pornography, will be deemed obscene." Obscenity, porn, and the law Obscenity is "outside the bounds of the First Amendment," explained Mike Stabile, director of public policy at adult industry trade organization, the Free Speech Coalition. "You cannot distribute it, you can't sell it, you can't post it online…it is something you can be prosecuted for." In U.S. law, obscenity is currently determined by the "Miller test," a three-part test introduced after the 1973 Supreme Court case Miller v. California: whether "the average person, applying contemporary community standards" would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient [shameful or morbid…
