Lawmakers in Michigan have introduced a controversial new bill that could see all forms of online pornography banned across the state – and the penalties for breaking the rules are eye-watering.
House Bill 4938, as stated on the Michigan Legislature website, dubbed the 'Anticorruption of Public Morals Act', was put forward by a group of Republican representatives last week, and has already stirred fierce debate.
Reported on by CBS News, the legislation, if passed, wouldn’t just target explicit sexual material. It also aims content that shows what the bill describes as a 'disconnection between biology and gender'.
The lead sponsor is Rep. Josh Schriver, a Republican from Oxford, who made his position crystal clear in the below post on X (formerly Twitter): “Don’t make it, don’t share it, don’t view it.”
Alongside the slogan, he called for porn distributors to be added to the sex offender registry. He added: “These measures defend children, safeguard our communities, and put families first.”
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Schriver argued that current obscenity laws are badly outdated and rarely enforced online. He also claimed that parents and schools don’t have enough tools to prevent minors from seeing explicit material.
Under the bill, the following types of content would be banned:
• Any depiction, description or simulation of sexual acts, whether real or digitally generated. That includes writing, images, audio and video. Even 'erotic autonomous sensory meridian response content, moaning, or sensual voice content' would be covered.
• Any depiction, description or simulation that involves 'a disconnection between biology and gender'. This means an individual presenting themselves as another gender through clothing, cosmetics, prosthetics, or by claiming reproductive traits different from their biological sex.
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There are limited exceptions for medical or scientific purposes, but outside of those, the consequences for violating the act would be severe. Distributing prohibited material in Michigan would be seen as a felony and could be punished by up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of $100,000. If more than 100 pieces of banned content are involved, the penalties rise to 25 years behind bars and/or a $125,000 fine.
The legislation also requires internet platforms, institutions and individuals to use around-the-clock content moderation systems capable of scanning material in real time and immediately removing anything considered illegal.
If the act passes, it would come into force 90 days later.
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The entirety of the bill’s five sponsors are Republicans: Joseph Pavlov, Matt Maddock, James DeSana, Joseph Fox and Jennifer Wortz.
Democrats have yet to officially respond, though CBS News Detroit has noted they reached out to the Michigan Democratic Party and were waiting for comment.
With punishments this extreme and the broad scope of what counts as pornography under the proposal, it will be easy for critics to suggest the law could effectively wipe out adult industry content in Michigan entirely.
Whether the bill gains traction in Lansing remains to be seen, but if it does go through, the state’s online landscape would look very different indeed.
Ben Williams