The U.S. Department Of Defense summons nine officials once a year to review pornographic material.
The Resale Activities Review Board is made up of nine military and civilian officials. Their job is to review items offered for sale and rental on property under DoD jurisdiction and determine if it’s “sexually explicit,” Paul Szoldra of Business Insider reports.
Anything considered “lascivious” — defined as “lewd and intended or designed to elicit a sexual response” — can’t be sold or rented out on military bases under the Military Honor and Decency Act passed in 1996.
The board, which has every service represented on it, meets at least once a year to review material and make recommendations. The chair of the board goes over the criteria before presenting magazines, audio recordings and videos to board members. A secret ballot vote later determines if a title should be considered sexually explicit or if it can remain on the bases.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request published on governmentattic.org reveals which items have been reviewed certain years, and whether they passed or were banned. In 1998, 23 videos were banned, while 103 were deemed to not be sexually explicit. The number of videos examined have since decreased.
It costs about $5,500 per year to fund the board’s operations.
Military members are still allowed to buy the banned items off-base or watch them electronically.
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