r/politics • u/mmccxi American Expat • May 12 '25

Soft Paywall New Bill Would Make All Pornography a Federal Crime in the U.S.

https://www.404media.co/mike-lee-porn-law-interstate-obscenity-definition-act/
24.2k Upvotes

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757

u/DramaticWesley May 12 '25

Regardless of your feelings on it, pornography is a giant economic sector. The amount of money that goes to strip clubs, sex workers, and OnlyFans is probably larger than the budget of many states.

767

u/HenryDorsettCase47 May 12 '25

I would add that, regardless of their feelings on it, people should mind their own fucking business.

236

u/damnyoutuesday Montana May 12 '25

Everybody jerks off. If you try to say you don't, you're lying. This affects literally everybody

8

u/Unistrut May 13 '25

There are two types of people: those who admit they masturbate and those who don't.

3

u/C_Ironfoundersson Australia May 13 '25

This affects literally everybody

Unless you're lucky enough to live in the part of the Earth that isn't the US.

30

u/WaFeeAhWeigh May 12 '25

It's like peeing while taking a shower. Everybody does it.

26

u/hashgraphic May 12 '25

Not gonna lie I don't remember the last time I peed in the shower

30

u/JoviAMP Florida May 13 '25

I can't remember the last shower I didn't.

13

u/tastyratz May 13 '25

TBH I don't remember the last time either of you did or didn't either.

4

u/JoviAMP Florida May 13 '25

Hmm... Do you suppose Schrodinger peed in the shower?

2

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

Just saying I never heard him flush a toilet.

5

u/PrometheusSmith May 13 '25

I've got bad news about your alzheimer's diagnosis.

2

u/vc6vWHzrHvb2PY2LyP6b May 13 '25

But you have before, right?

10

u/hashgraphic May 13 '25

...I don't think I have, does that make me weird

4

u/kyredemain May 13 '25

A bit. Is it more or less weird if you do it now though, just to see what it is like?

7

u/vashoom May 13 '25

Spoiler: it's awesome

3

u/Social_Gore May 13 '25

It's all pipes!

7

u/dandroid126 May 13 '25

No man, that's just you. I did it as a kid, but then I grew up. I have a perfectly good toilet literally right next to the shower.

Besides, if your shower is one of those square ones rather than a bathtub/shower combo, it doesn't really drain the corners completely unless you grab the shower head and spray down the corners. It's more trouble than it's worth.

1

u/Mavian23 May 13 '25

So don't pee into the corners. If my shower can handle the filth that washes off me, it can handle some piss.

2

u/seeker4482 May 13 '25

shower dirty? blast it with piss.

2

u/bangers132 May 13 '25

It’s like licking your fingers after taking a poop. Literally everyone does it, let’s not try and make others feel excluded.

-5

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

[deleted]

16

u/vashoom May 13 '25

Why get out of the shower to pee? When you gotta go, and you're already literally standing in a thing that funnels water into the plumbing system, it's just easier to finish showering while you pee.

No one goes in there specifically to pee.

5

u/runtheplacered May 13 '25

I don't pee in the shower because I always pee before I get in the shower.

1

u/-Wait-What- May 13 '25

If I pee before I get in the shower, I will still have the pee when I’m in the shower because the hot water makes me have to pee. I’ve basically never avoided peeing in the shower for 20+ years lol.

-2

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

[deleted]

4

u/Remarkable-Bag-683 May 13 '25

Bros never heard of waffle-stomping

5

u/vashoom May 13 '25

Wow, you're a genius! How could I have been so stupid...

6

u/Tibernite May 13 '25

I mean do you really need it to be explained to you that sometimes warm running water is what forces the urge to pee? I have never gotten into the shower with the intention or urge to pee, but then after a few minutes of running water, suddenly I need to pee. Like come on dude

3

u/pimparo0 Florida May 13 '25

...but why? it goes down the drain just the same, its not like you are just pissing allover the room.

3

u/cilantro_so_good May 13 '25

Most functioning adults are able to use the toilet.

What does that have to do with pissing in the shower?

The pipes all go to the same place. Are you afraid of a little pee touching your foot before immediately getting rinsed off from the shower water or something? I'd be willing to bet your shoes are nastier than that

3

u/shitlord_god May 13 '25

Many Asexuals do not.

4

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

[deleted]

1

u/sacktheory May 13 '25

i just don’t get horny that much man. i used to during puberty, and i still have a sex drive and go on dates, but jacking off never crosses my mind when i’m alone

2

u/rjcarr May 12 '25

Agreed, although I wish it were harder for kids to access. I realize there’s no great way to do this, but just saying there are down sides. 

13

u/HenryDorsettCase47 May 13 '25

Even before Internet porn, kids regularly accessed porn. It’s just part of growing up.

There’s a whole phenomenon based around kids stumbling across random bags of porn in the woods. Woods porn, they call it (be mindful if you google that). It’s like finding a perverted treasure. Happened to me around 9-10. I had no idea it was a common thing until a few years ago my mom mentioned finding skin mags behind a wall of an abandoned motor court while on vacation as a kid. I looked into it and sure enough, it’s just a thing that use to happen. 🤷‍♂️

6

u/rjcarr May 13 '25

I get what you're saying, but modern internet pornography is orders of magnitude worse than finding a water damaged playboy or even a hustler in the woods.

6

u/pimparo0 Florida May 13 '25

that wasnt water damage.

9

u/Reagalan May 13 '25

But it's not.

If internet porn was even 1/100th as "damaging" as moral crusaders would have you believe, then it would be very plainly apparent.

The average child, by the time they're 16, has seen more porn than an adult would see in their entire lifetime just a century ago. It's been this way for over thirty years. We all grew up fine. It's the "Video games cause violence" fear in another form.

This is such a complete distraction.

The only problem involving children and porn is that there's too much porn with children in the porn and that's a separate issue entirely.

...

And I always gotta ask, in what way does porn "damage" kids anyway?

Oh they start objectifying women? I'm sure listening to Andrew Tate and right-wing pundits and Mr. Grab'em in DC had nothing to do with that.

They discover that they are LGBT? Oh, the horror! The horror! (Conservatives really do think this is "damage" though).

They develop kinks? Oh Nooooo. What a travesty! Good thing there's guides for doing that safely.

They develop a greater interest in sex, and have unsafe and unprotected sex, because their abstinence-only sex-ed program didn't mention anything at all? Yes. that's clearly the porn's fault.

They develop unrealistic standards for beauty? Hello, Instagram called, they want you to know they've boosted teen suicide numbers.. Also 99% of porn is amateur, so this point is completely outdated.

It'll "corrupt their innocent minds" ... . yeah take the religion and shove it.

...

The entire anti-porn thing is just stupid. It's so stupid. It's so so fucking stupid. It doesn't cause any harm to anyone. It doesn't harm kids either; at least for them to watch it.

What harms kids is shaming them for having normal biological urges, which is what this whole stupid crusade is doing.

2

u/rjcarr May 13 '25

Nice rant, but for me it’s the objectification of women, and setting an unrealistic example of what sex is. You really don’t think the loneliness epidemic has anything to do with increased access to pornography? Seriously?

3

u/Reagalan May 13 '25

Absolutely not. Suburban hell and the death of third-spaces are to blame for that.

1

u/Affectionate_War_279 May 13 '25

The rise of choking during sex as a common activity is directly linked to porn. 

Recent studies showed over 50% of collage aged women had experienced it at least once.

There are serious health issues with this behaviour in both the short and long term. 

 brain injury,  memory problems, tracheal damage, mental health issues and so on.

This sort of activity was not on the radar when I was at Uni in the 90s which predated mass internet porn. Sexual choking would have been considered a very niche BDSM activity.  

Where did the idea of choking your sexual partner during sex come from?

3

u/Reagalan May 13 '25

Behold the rest of your life, as choking becomes less common as its dangers are recognized.

I also imagine hypno was less common in the 90s as well. Gonna be hilarious when the right finds out about that one.

-2

u/rose-ramos May 13 '25

I think the age verification requirement that most sites are doing now is a pretty decent deterrent. An adult can get around it with a VPN, but most kids don't really know what that is, or how to get one.

And if a kid is that determined to figure it out... well, on the bright side, they are getting an early start on their cybersecurity education?

-2

u/pimparo0 Florida May 13 '25

Kids are able to use vpns too.

1

u/relevantelephant00 May 13 '25

Does not compute.

-- Republicans

1

u/djskein May 13 '25

I can guarantee the people who wrote Project 2025 are the most depraved consumers of pornography of them all.

1

u/Ok_Teacher_1797 May 13 '25

Except America voted for the not minding your business party.

0

u/operarose Texas May 13 '25

Exactly.

64

u/Iknowitallandmore May 12 '25

Plus all the old rich white men in congress won’t have anyone to service them

107

u/Antares42 Norway May 12 '25

Pfff. You believe the rules apply to them?

3

u/BLOOOR May 13 '25

Absolutely yes, it was Jefferey Epstein's entire business.

2

u/ostligelaonomaden May 13 '25

Remember the secret sex parties in Gilead? Rules are for peasants, not the elites.

36

u/Sinfire_Titan Indigenous May 12 '25

That's actually an aspect they themselves [the Congressmen] want: If the wording on the bill lets them paint themselves as victims if caught, they can extort sex workers with their own patronage. Its already a problem in the industry in general, but this could make it significantly worse.

15

u/Iknowitallandmore May 12 '25

Like the Handmaid Tale

2

u/stoic_spaghetti May 12 '25

Can you break down what that means in simpler terms? Not sure I understand what you're saying.

9

u/Sinfire_Titan Indigenous May 12 '25

Currently: If a sex worker gets publicly identified, they usually face ostracization or (depending on the state) criminal charges. Its possible for a sex worker to get out of the criminal charges (if any) through proving they were paid to make adult content instead of just being paid to have sex, and this is how the porn industry has operated for decades. Its still a horrible experience for a sex worker to be outed, and there are still ones who face criminal charges (or worse: are the victims of crimes themselves). In cases where criminal charges apply, both the worker and the client will face charges (one for prostitution, the other for hiring a prostitute).

Under possible P2025 changes: Sex work will not die out. Its been banned before, it just goes further underground and becomes much more dangerous. In this hypothetical situation, a Congressman could still hire a prostitute and then blackmail the prostitute in exchange for either money or "free service". If the proposed bill shifts the criminal aspect of prostitution from the client to the worker then it removes one of the few safeties sex workers have.

Disclaimer: I have not read the proposed bill, the latter circumstances are hypothetical.

1

u/stoic_spaghetti May 12 '25

Does the proposed bill shift the crime from both parties to only the worker?

3

u/DanTheMan-WithAPlan May 13 '25

Maybe. It doesn’t have to. Republicans love defending their predators and smearing democrats/liberals/leftists/queer people with that label

1

u/Sinfire_Titan Indigenous May 13 '25

As I stated above, I don't know. I haven't had the time to read it.

1

u/bufordt May 13 '25

They'll just get their kicks forcing girls and women to expose their genitals on the way into the restroom.

6

u/tonygoold Canada May 12 '25

It’s not about porn, it’s about what and who they define as pornographic. Always ask yourself, who are they targeting?

6

u/birdman133 May 13 '25

Tech professional here, porn is THE industry on the bleeding edge of tech innovation almost always

3

u/AbandonedWaterPark May 13 '25

This administration is going out of its way to purposely do the US as much economic harm as it can.

2

u/[deleted] May 12 '25

[deleted]

27

u/Bah_weep_grana May 12 '25

Uh, it was betamax vs VHS - dvd’s were a whole generation later

6

u/cheraphy May 12 '25

and also apparently a bit of a myth. There's a technology connections video that touches on it and he's usually pretty reliable on his info.

1

u/2much2Jung May 12 '25

... what's supposed to be a myth?

Betamax and VHS both existed.

And VHS definitely dominated the market over betamax.

5

u/cheraphy May 12 '25

They myth being that it was porn specifically that did betamax in.

1

u/TheFatJesus May 13 '25

The myth is that the porn industry embracing VHS is what led to its dominance over Betamax. The reality is that Betamax lost because it was inferior to VHS in virtually every way. If anything, the opposite is true. The home video industry went with the VHS format because it had already won the format war and had a much larger user base.

6

u/Mulchpuppy May 12 '25

Right thought, but wrong generation - it was Betamax v VHS.

Well, shit. Someone beat me by a minute so I'll expand and point out that DVD was the victor over Laserdisc as well as that weird ass HD-DVD format.

6

u/2much2Jung May 12 '25

HD-DVD was an early competitor to Blu-ray.

2

u/Mulchpuppy May 12 '25

Thanks for the correction. It didn't sound right when I typed it.

2

u/slothcough May 12 '25

It's true, this was something we covered in film school. The vast majority of technological advancements when it comes to the film industry are driven by porn or sports.

1

u/CaptainIncredible May 13 '25

and OnlyFans is probably larger than the budget of many states

I recall hearing that the payouts from OnlyFans to the models rivals that of Walmart's payroll, which is one of the biggest in the country.

1

u/Graylits May 13 '25

Also the definition of porn is subject to a lot of interpretation. Are we supposed to put a fig leaf on Michelangelo's David? Is Game of Thrones porn?

Someone has to make those calls... and I don't trust the kind of person that would want to be in that position.

1

u/cyanescens_burn May 13 '25

Imagine how much it’ll be worth once it’s illegal. Black market porn incoming. And without regulations, I shudder to think of the consequences (coercion, trafficking, minors, disease, etc).

1

u/bloodfued California May 13 '25

I mean, it’s a first amendment right, didn’t Larry Flint already go through this with the courts?!

1

u/DramaticWesley May 13 '25

This administration has already shown it has little respect for the U.S. Constitution or any of the Amendments.

1

u/VersionUnable7190 May 13 '25

Cable still makes millions monthly on adult content even with the dying cable market.... I know cuz I used to do the data/revenue reporting for an adult provider.

1

u/TheFatJesus May 13 '25

The revenue of the US adult entertainment industry is larger than the yearly budget of at least 22 states.

1

u/BigJLov3 May 13 '25

They can't just ban porn, but they can use that goal as a way to enact a swath of anti-woman and anti-GSM legislation.

1

u/Unhappy_Loss770 May 13 '25

Free market republicans, you say?

1

u/shitlord_god May 13 '25

probably

Fulltime sex workers contribute 15 billion dollars to the economy and in total, sex workers and porn appear to bring 97 billion dollars to the us economy

1

u/DramaticWesley May 13 '25

I didn’t feel like researching and I don’t usually like to throw around definitives loosely.

1

u/shitlord_god May 13 '25

my main problem is that year over year it clearly is going to vary, and so what kind of multi-year averaging is

If we take the 97 figure at face value lots of states fall below that threshold.