GOP Senator Introduces Bill to Make All Porn a Federal Crime, Following Project 2025 Playbook

[MayReasonRule]

Last year, the rightwing think-tank the Heritage Foundation launched Project 2025, which laid out much of the policy blueprint for the current Trump administration. One of the project’s espoused goals was to permanently criminalize all pornography. Now, a Republican senator with kind words for Trump has introduced a bill that would do just that.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) recently introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA), which would effectively criminalize all pornography nationwide by legally redefining what it means to be obscene. For years, “obscenity” has been all but a defunct legal category that narrowly defines speech that remains unprotected by the First Amendment. Lee would explode this legal category, expanding it to encompass virtually all visual representations of sex.

According to the bill text, “a picture, image, graphic image file, film, videotape, or other visual depiction” of any media that “appeals to the prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion” would be considered criminal. In other words, if you have an old VHS tape of some Cinemax-style smut stashed away in your garage, you could, under this law, be considered to be harboring deeply illicit materials. Some critics have suggested that Lee’s definition of obscenity is so ridiculously broad that it could effectively criminalize Game of Thrones. That said, the punishments for merely possessing porn under the proposed law seem unclear at this point, as the legislation seems more focused on punishing the creators and distributors of racy material.

The law 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,” The Daily Caller writes.

https://gizmodo.com/gop-senator-introduces-bill-to-make-all-porn-a-federal-crime-following-project-2025-playbook-2000600994

[Takket]

1. I'd say "SCOTUS has already been over this"

But precedent means nothing to this court. So, who knows?

[BoRaGard]

2. I know a controlling right-wing fascist authoritarian man-o-sphere a-hole when I see one

That's the standard that decent folk have applied through the eons.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

26. Lee wants to be on the viewing panel that rates stuff. . . . . . nt

[appleannie1]

70. Awe. That hits the nail on the head.

[COL Mustard]

109. Don't say "head"....

He'll say sure!

[brush]

77. Bet he's got a porno stash hidden in his baseent.

Such a bill will never pass.

[Norbert]

3. So the new Nanny State will dictate the community standards.

[Prairie Gates]

24. The federal government will impose rural Utah beliefs on NYC - because of conservatism or something

[Eugene]

52. community standards of 1934 (a Repub congresscritter has already proposed it)

Turn the clock back to the original Federal Communications Act and enforcement of the Hays Code.

[slightlv]

93. Remember how they always referred to Democrats

as the Nanny Party? My... how often projection becomes action - for the repug party.

[wcmagumba]

4. I'll bet this jerk has a whole room devoted to porn in his basement...

[mwmisses4289]

44. Goes without saying- he's a right wing conservative christian nutjob-

enough said.

[Johonny]

5. Small government at work

GOPers are all creepy perverts that want to control your sex life for their sadomastic pleasure.

[Attilatheblond]

71. Or maybe they just want to check out what others have in case they can find new sources for better porn than their's?

[JBTaurus83]

6. Probably hoping

Lack of porn will force people to have more sex and thus babies. They are obsessed with turning women into cows.

[J_William_Ryan]

7. The fascist right continues its authoritarian attack on the First Amendment and freedom of speech and expression -

for conservatives it’s about more government, bigger government at the expense of individual liberty, seeking to compel conformity and punish dissent.

[madaboutharry]

8. I read somewhere that Utah is the state with the most downloads of pornography.

Maybe this is a cry for help. Maybe he could join Mike Johnson’s porn monitoring app.

In other news, Mike Lee is a fascist.

[mwmisses4289]

45. Many of the states that are trying to out christian each other,

Iirc, the states that had the most traffic to various porn sites were states like alabama, mississppi, georgia, and as you mentioned, utah.

[Marcuse]

48. Apparently it's complicated.

https://www.deseret.com/2023/5/2/23708030/utah-pornography-usage

[JustAnotherGen]

9. Does Speaker Johnson know?

[Eugene]

102. Johnson likely coauthored it, especially the anti-LGBT parts.

Johnson's Alliance Defending Freedom is a contributor to Project 2025, and the anti-LGBT language closely matches Johnson's talking points when he led the ADF legal "ministry." Also, don't forget that Project 2025's definition of pornography also includes any expression of gender nonconformity.

[JustAnotherGen]

112. Mike Johnson Admits He and His Son Monitor Each Other's Porn Intake in Resurfaced Video

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/mike-johnson-son-monitor-porn-intake-covenant-eyes-1234870634/

[Eugene]

113. Eliminate the temptation to sin at the source is the Christian dominionist answer for all of this.

That way the Johnsons won't need an AA-style buddy system to keep themselves pure.

[Walleye]

10. Sure, they can outlaw pornography, they know the laws don't apply to them

Pornography will only be for the special people. In Other words, Republicans. Lee is a self-righteous little toad.

[Whiskeytide]

11. So we're going to redefine obscenity as anything ...

… that gives Mike Lee wood?

[hatrack]

12. So watching porn will be a felony? Directing or appearing in porn? Jerking off to it?

If it's the last case, better talk to your esteemed GOP colleague Ted "Jerkin' It" Cruz.

A US Republican senator who once defended a ban on masturbation appears to have "liked" a pornographic video on social media.

The Twitter account of Ted Cruz, the former lawyer who ran for US president in 2016, "liked" the two-minute video by @SexuallPosts on Monday.

It is not known who was using the Texas Senator's account at the time.

Initially, Senator Cruz did not comment, although his staff confirmed the "offensive tweet" was removed from the @tedcruz account. Later, he told reporters the incident was a "staffing issue" and "not malicious". Although the video was "unliked" after 40 minutes, it was too late.

EDIT

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41237352

[Iris]

15. One thing they added consistent about is their inconsistency

[EdmondDantes_]

27. He liked for the artistic merits like acting and directing

Definitely not because he's a filthy degenerate or anything. How dare you besmirch the decency of the man who fled his state during a time of crisis so his family could go to a beach resort? The audacity.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. So many unanswered questions

Is it a hide your tattoos bill?

Will knickers replace bikinis?

Lingerie cannot be advertised?

Will there be hemline standards?

What federal force will be the thought police?

[Walleye]

55. Will the nudie pictures of Melania be confiscated?

[RJ-MacReady]

14. This is DOA

They dont have the votes. But our side needs to make this front and center. Put fear into people using thus as an example of what project 2025 will do.

[GoCubsGo]

16. Good luck with that, Mike.

Make sure you have your DVD stash well hidden, while you're at it.

[The Madcap]

17. What's next?

Making all non-church or country music illegal?

These "puritans" are fully out of their minds.

[Voltaire2]

18. What the fuck are incels gonna do? Nt.

[OneGrassRoot]

29. My first thought too. Incels will turn on them immediately. n/t

[lostnfound]

78. Turn to violence because that's the way they are wired? Nt

[Vinca]

19. Well, that's one way to round up Republicans and put them in jail.

[dalton99a]

20. NEXT: GOP senator wants to ban all nipples and genitals including artwork and Virginia flag

[area51]

21. mmkay.

So, when is Melania Trump going to be arrested for the porn she did?

[sakabatou]

22. Man, they really do hate the First Amendment

Besides that, what are they going to do about art itself? Destroy every piece that has nudity in it?

[RazorbackExpat]

37. They could cover up "naughty bits" on art works,

like AG Asscrotch did with Lady Justice

[Karasu]

105. Oh, man. I also still remember that! LOL

Fucking Ashcroft. Geez.

Crazy to think about how much crazier things have gotten since then.

[Hotler]

23. Ladies, I'm this big, call me.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. So that would include well-known pictures of the current First Lady, which she willingly did

to show she was worth her "Einstein visa".

[azureblue]

28. the Bible forbids

eating pork and shellfish. In very plain language, too. SO why isn't this clown banning that, if he a such a holy Christian?
But seriously, I think a rider forbidding the consumption of Pork and shellfish, should eb attached to every on of these cockamamie bills these moralists try to pass.
Or even better, because the Bible says in several places, "Do Not Lie" then make it a crime to lie, and make it grounds for expulsion from Congress.

[Polybius]

64. Not for Christians

The New Testament cleared that up. In it, it states that Jesus cleansed all the animals and we can eat what we want.

[Attilatheblond]

73. Maybe a rider requiring every male to send Mike Lee a dick pic so he can check for circumcisions?

[mdbl]

30. Did he write the playbook while hanging out at Jezebel's?

[Buddyzbuddy]

31. This will make all of those young white males that voted Republican very happy.

[Abstractartist]

32. Hmmm

All except the kiddie porn many of these pieces of shit share among themselves…

[twodogsbarking]

33. Has his phone been checked for things he has "researched"?

[Renew Deal]

34. Mike Lee is the mullah of the American Taliban.

[Texin]

35. Keep going rethugs! You guys won't find 5 votes on your right hands you can count on for their votes!

[WestMichRad]

41. Their right hands are busy at the moment.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

95. Boom!

[Bo Zarts]

36. What about graphic images of sofas?

Asking for J.D.

[LS0999]

38. It should be a federal crime to be Republican/MAGA/Nazi

I am so sick of these people.

[travelingthrulife]

39. I like this. It will make GOP and Evangelical Christians bigly mad!

[SocialDemocrat61]

40. Where's Matt Gaetz when you need him?

[Envirogal]

42. The young male vote may be back in the D camp

This would be a deal breaker for horny, lost, bros to get over their culture war distractions and come back to the tent that welcomes masturbation and Medicare for All!.

[KG]

43. " 'this' is why women laugh at me.."

[oasis]

46. Justice Clarence Thomas will have to get rid

of his precious Long Dong Silver film collection.

[pimpbot]

47. Dems should let them pass this

Tired of protecting the idiots in this country from themselves. They voted for this crap, let them own it.

Dems should absolutely hammer this in interviews and campaign ads.

[MayReasonRule]

88. My Perspective Is That Abstention Would Be Compliance And Compliance Is Complicity...

Just my 2 cent...

Happy Tuesday!

[Martin68]

49. LOL! Good luck with that. Red states are prime users of internet porn sites.

[Ol Janx Spirit]

50. Who is going to play Mike Lee in the Broadway musical that will inevitably be made about this era?

I can't wait for it. Part The Producers; part Hamilton; part Annie.... This play is going to have it all!

[Funtatlaguy]

51. We will soon be Gilead.

[Jimvanhise]

53. IT IS CALLED THE INTERNET

Fifty years ago a restriction like that would have worked, but unless the US is going to control the internet like they do in China, this is a hopeless cause and laughable at best. This is why banning books in schools is ridiculous because any book can be found on line at any time and children have been using the internet to find things a hundred times worse than what they ban in Florida high schools. 25 years ago a 15 year old boy told me how his friends download porn and keep it on memory sticks, etc which they can exchange and don't keep on their computers where it could be found by their parents. 25 years ago. The book banners trying to "protect children" lost that war many years ago.

[3825-87867]

76. ... unless the US is going to control the internet

Bingo! We have a winner! It's just a matter of time. After all, we've already seen that classified stuff can be posted so that's for National Security.

Phones are next...after certain books.

[NNadir]

54. Would this include Epstein's tapes of the orange antichrist?

[Srkdqltr]

56. Good idea. That stuff should not be available to our vulnerable men.

Good luck should keep the police busy.

[Basso8vb]

57. All because this totally unlikeable incel shitwad can't get laid.

[ananda]

58. Gee, how did I know it would be Mike Lee?

From Utah no less.

[IronLionZion]

59. GOP President paid off porn stars

GOPers love porn.

[Orrex]

60. What length is he demonstrating in that pic?

[Ray Bruns]

61. I didn't even have to click on the article to know this was Mike Lee.

[Seinan Sensei]

62. So ... no more fellating a microphone?

[Bettie]

63. Um, that would make a lot of mainline movies illegal

Some TV shows too. Actually, a lot of content...not just Game of Thrones.

Should be interesting. Take people's entertainment away...sure, should work out great for them.

[Justice matters.]

65. Next, these christo-Fascists will make elections Federal crimes.

And think they can get away with that too...

[Bettie]

75. More likely that they

designate the Democratic Party as a terrorist organization...then, any party other than Republican. Viola! No candidates other than R on the ballots.

That way they can claim that there are elections.

[JohnSJ]

66. They want to take away Medicaid, and now they want to take away porn. I wonder which one will

piss their constituents off more?

[usedtobedemgurl]

67. We are a kink oriented couple.

Looking around our house, including magnets on our fridge, we could go to jail for decades and these are all pics just of us! I have seven dick pic magnets, alone on my fridge! Some have a,weight, some have ribbon and some have electro equipment! Now I will not be able to have photos of my guy who has stage four cancer? They can go go to hell! How dare they?!?!

[steelyboo]

68. Pictured here: Mike Lee demonstrating the size he hopes his penis will be after a quadruple lengthening surgery.

[Ping Tung]

72. "Honest, honey. This really is 11 inches."

[appleannie1]

69. What are they going to read in their off time? Or will they just be actors in making it but never read it?

They sure think they have the right to point to other people's sexual leanings while turning a blind eye on their own.

[Ping Tung]

74. "..... sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love." -

"Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love." - Butch Hancock

[Attilatheblond]

79. The Retribution Against Stormy Act?

[CousinIT]

80. This is the same asshole who calls Social Security a Ponzi Scheme and wants it abolished.

He chimes in with Muskrat on X about it all the time.

If this passes, then contraception and abortion pills will be classified as "porn" and banned. Also, women having bear arms or lets. Next: burkas.

VIAGRA of course, will not be restricted in any way. Nor will sexual assault and rape.

[maspaha]

81. Good luck with that!

If it passes, they’re gonna need to add law enforcement, expand staff in the courts, hire more probation/parole officers and build bigger jails for repeat offenders…in Utah!

[xuplate]

82. Whoa

Now THAT is bridge too far for all those MAGA incels and pedophiles.

[Meowmee]

83. Lol, will it be enforced against R?

[bluestarone]

84. I want to pass a bill that will make mike sit

And watch porn 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, for 40 years.

[Marcuse]

106. !

[angryxyouth]

85. It's coming from a place of love🤪

He wants everyone to have more human connections. Like his daily Grinder connections. Kids are locked up in their rooms watching Lee on youporn instead of going out a fucking Betty Anne and getting her pregnant and of course she can’t get an abortion, thus creating lives of poverty to be forced into taking low wage jobs that will Make the new isolationist America Great Again.

[patphil]

86. Legislating morality doesn't work.

It too subjective, where do we draw the line?
Are we going to start covering up nude statues and paintings?
Will generations of movies have to be taken off the shelves?
When does art become obscene?
When does clothing become too revealing?
Anti-obscenity laws are just as perverse in their own way as the pornography they target.
It's just another control mechanism.
Besides, too many people like pornography.
Remember, we tried it with alcoholic beverages, and it didn't work. Again, too many people liked alcohol.

[Jacson6]

87. SCOTUS has already ruled that is up to a jury of 12 citizens to decide if a picture, video or book is obscene.

I don't think attorneys will be able sit a jury of people in the USA to find something obscene. Too many guys have watched pornography over the Internet. Just sayin...

[Hekate]

89. Clearly, they need to examine all the porn very, very closely to determine if it breaks the law

Perverts, one and all

[bdamomma]

90. Mike Johnson

won't be happy, doesn't he view porn sites????

[Exp]

91. Not going to happen, but IF IT DID, a LOT of Republicans will end up behind bars. nt

[MorbidButterflyTat]

92. My prediction of latest MAGAt mailer:

"Help us stamp out the Dirty Democrats, Lechery Left's porn-o-movies! Send your generous donation today and every day, as we kick Satan out and put God back in our bedrooms, even under our sheets, where He belongs!"

This is performative grifting MAGAt bullshit, as usual.

[MayReasonRule]

96. It Would Turn Out That Nat-C/Nazi MAGAT Porn Would Be A-OK With The Omniscient Orange Shit-Gibbon

... and all of his butt cleaners and diaper changers...

[MorbidButterflyTat]

110. Ick!

[SunSeeker]

94. Mike Lee's Utah was the No. 1 consumer of online porn in the US in 2009.

That's dropped since that survey came out, but Utah is still porn addicted. Good luck Mike Lee. https://utahstories.com/2022/05/utahs-porn-problem/

[usregimechange]

97. Commies

[ecstatic]

98. remember when they used to complain / warn about "big" government?

I guess I just misunderstood what they meant. They want a government that's small enough to fit inside my uterus, my bedroom, and on my phone, TV and computer screens.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

111. Well said

[louis-t]

99. GOP perverts gonna tell us which books we can read, which words we can use

what movies we can watch, which religion we can belong to, what we can do with our bodies, then tell us how free we are.

[Godot51]

100. Browser history...

It would interesting to see his browser history.

[orangecrush]

101. Glad I never threw away

All those old Sears catalogs.


The party of less government.

[valleyrogue]

103. There is no "right" to this form of exploitation. It isn't a "civil liberties" issue to coerce women

and girls into this form of prostitution. At bottom, it's all about male entitlement to women's bodies, either directly or by proxy, which is porn. Too many men, especially on the political left, think they have a "right' to exploit women through prostitution and porn. It isn't a "right." No human rights violation is. Prostitution of all types, including porn, also isn't "freely chosen." Nobody "chooses" to get raped vaginally or anally or orally up to twenty or thirty times a day, every day. Nobody does this unless they are desperate financially. Money is always coercion; women would never do this if it weren't for money. Far from being "empowering," it is MEN who have all the power. They can simply not pay. Furthermore, women won't be involved with disgusting, violent men who make up the clientele of prostitution if there was no money exchanged. That is just a fact. Porn is simply another form of prostitution, just rape on camera.

Porn use is a huge factor in more women refusing to date men anymore or at all. What is depicted isn't "fantasy" but real. Just think of it: increasingly depraved acts such as BDSM (which is aberrant whether you agree with it or not), urinating and defecating on women, ejaculating on their faces, calling them all kinds of vile names, and engaging in attempted murder which is sugarcoated "choking," has in some quarters been mainstreamed. This is serial killer-type of depravity, and porn normalizes it. Boys as young as 11 are being introduced to it, which is a disaster for women and girls. Women and girls are afraid to date men and boys anymore because they don't know if they will even survive the night.

Porn is poison. The problem is this bill won't go anywhere because organizations like the ACLU, long in bed with the porn lobby, have dishonestly characterized the violation of women's and girls' bodies as "speech." Plenty of dumb judges have gone along with it, except, of course, for kiddie porn, but the issue is identical because there is always coercion involved for women and girls to get into this "industry." My feeling is anybody who downloads or traffics in it should be labeled a sex offender for life and get jail time. That would all but get rid of it once and for all.

Women and girls are not commodities to be bought and sold. Porn, prostitution, and surrogacy are profoundly wrong. There is no "right" to sex or to parenthood. Nobody, especially on the political left, has the will or courage to stand up against these violations of women's rights. It is too easy for the right to jump in, and of course, they do it for all the wrong reasons. They don't care about women and girls. It is just a wedge issue to them. But too many on the left don't seem to care, either. That is the tragedy.

[jmowreader]

104. Wouldn't this also ban swimsuit ads and old Sears catalogs?

Back in the day, the ladies' undergarment sections of the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs were every little boy's first porn. (It didn't help that Sears literally sold sex toys.) Claiming that this will be restricted to anything that "appeals to the prurient interest in nudity or sex" is kinda BS because any picture of a partially-clothed person could conceivably turn someone on.

[3catwoman3]

107. So does this mean ol' Mikey Johnson and his son will no longer...

...have to monitor each other's porn use?

[Noodleboy13]

108. Pictured here bragging and demonstrating the size of his penis.

What???? Come on, I often claim to be the blue comedian of DU, there is no way I'm not swinging at that low hanging fruit.(shit, did it again)

Peace
Noodleboy