The National Center on Sexual Exploitation praised the passage of a Utah bill requiring warnings against obscene pornography.
House Bill 243 initially required a label on all pornographic videos stating that the content is “harmful to minors,” but the bill that went into effect April 1 after passing the House legislature requires the warning label only on obscene pornography, according to Fox 13 Salt Lake City.
Utah law allows legislation to go into effect without the governor’s signature if it passes the House and the Senate and the governor does not veto. (RELATED: Snapchat And Teen Vogue Encouraging Teens To Create ‘Child Pornography’ During Quarantine, National Center For Sexual Exploitation Says)
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Utah State Rep. Brady Brammer, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that lawmakers traditionally tried to regulate obscenity through end-user filters, but these filters don’t work and create a ‘catch-me-if-you-can’ environment that incentivize “the worst actors” to get around the filters.
“The filters are never able to operate to block obscene content we don’t want while allowing content we do want,” he said.
“This bill creates an incentive for creators of obscene content to comply with warning labels and allow for easier filtering both by end users prior to display of obscene content and through technological filters,” Brammer added. “Specifically, private citizens will be able to file lawsuits and collect a portion of the civil fine owed by an offending party.”
Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCSE) Dawn Hawkins said in a statement that “Utah’s new ‘Warning Labels’ bill is an innovative way to warn the public that pornography is harmful, especially to minors.”
What we’re faced with is a government that has abdicated its role in protecting its citizens—and our children—from the pornography industry’s incredibly pernicious system of exploitation. https://t.co/CZqepY130T
— National Center on Sexual Exploitation (@ncose) April 3, 2020
“As Utah was the first state to approve a resolution recognizing public health harms of pornography, including its harms on the psychological, social, and physical development of youth, this bill is a natural next step in protecting the most vulnerable,” she added.
“We commend the Utah Legislature for its work to protect children from the harms of hardcore pornography, which often included themes of incest, racism, and extreme violence.” (RELATED: Porn And Predators: Activists Warn Of Internet Dangers For Kids During Coronavirus Crisis)
The NCSE created a research summary reviewing more than 100 studies on the harmful effects of pornography, including negative impacts on the brain and links to depressive symptoms. Pornography teaches users to believe that women enjoy sexual violence and degradation, according to one of the studies that examined PornHub videos and is included in the NCSE summary.
“Pornography is a social toxin that destroys relationships, steals innocence, erodes compas-sion, breeds violence, and kills love,” the summary introduction says. “The issue of pornography is ground zero for all those concerned for the sexual health of our loved ones, communities, and society as a whole.”
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