An ambitious and over-reaching “anti-porn” bill is currently making its way through Oklahoma’s state legislative system, the severity of which threatens to criminalize the act of sexting or sharing intimate photos.
The proposed bill, known as Oklahoma Senate Bill 1976, targets not just explicit porn but even erotic expression, and in the process, takes an extreme stance against the First Amendment.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
The bill bans: “any visual depiction or individual image stored or contained in any format on any medium including, but not limited to, film, motion picture, videotape, photograph, negative, undeveloped film, slide, photographic product, reproduction of a photographic product, play, or performance.”
The initiated legislation, described by Reason as being so “extreme that it could even make sexting outside of a marriage a crime,” is part of a more significant push, intent on broadening the definition of what constitutes porn, even at the expense of hard-won civil liberties.
Sen. Dusty Deevers (R–District 32) sponsors this proposal.
Typically, adult pornography enjoys protection under First Amendment rights, barring a few exceptions, including content featuring individuals who are underage or obscene. This new stringent legislation, however, aims to navigate around the standard protections and introduce a novel classification of banned material under the dubious label of “unlawful pornography.”
Sen. Deevers’ proposed legislation is incredibly comprehensive, including both visual depictions and individual images across multiple mediums in its definition of illicit porn. It seeks to forbid not only explicit sexual acts but also anything designed to excite sexual interest, such as nudity or the suggestion of sexual activity. The bill extends beyond conventional pornography, encompassing a wide array of adult content and establishing a high bar for what is considered having serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value, thereby putting sexting, and even some social media posts and private messages in its scope.
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