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Total porn ban proposed by Michigan GOP lawmakers
House Bill 4938, called the "Anticorruption of Public Morals Act," would prohibit the distribution of "real, animated, digitally generated, written, or auditory" depictions of sexual acts. The bill outlines the types of acts covered, including intercourse and masturbation.
LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - A lawmaker in Lansing is taking on pornography as he works hard to ban it outright in Michigan.
Big picture view:
House Bill 4938, called the "Anticorruption of Public Morals Act," would prohibit the distribution of "real, animated, digitally generated, written, or auditory" depictions of sexual acts. The bill outlines the types of acts covered, including intercourse and masturbation.
The bill also includes a section targeting transgender individuals by prohibiting material "that includes a disconnection between biology and gender by an individual of one biological sex imitating, depicting, or representing themselves to be of the other biological sex."
Total porn ban proposed by Michigan lawmakers
Michigan lawmakers proposed a bill last week banning porn. This comes after the bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford), said earlier this year that he was working to draft legislation banning all porn online.
Dig deeper:
The bill's sponsor is State Representative Josh Schriver, a Republican representing Northern Oakland County, including Oxford. He is known for his controversial push to urge the Supreme Court to overturn its decision on gay marriage in February.
He claims that pornography leads to societal decay, affects marriages, and is linked to human trafficking.
"Right now, we have a situation where you have over 90% of youth under the age of 18 who have seen pornography it’s killing our drive it’s killing our morality our moral and it’s something that has no place is western civilization," Schriver said.
The bill would require internet service providers in Michigan to use filters to prevent people from accessing the prohibited material.
If the bill becomes law, violators could face prison time or hefty fines. Distributing the prohibited material or making it available online would carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and/or a $100,000 fine. If more than 100 pieces of prohibited material are involved, the penalty increases to 25 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $125,000.
Additionally, an internet service provider or commercial entity could face fines for knowingly allowing people to access sexually explicit material online.
The bill's sponsors are also advocating for violators of the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act to register as sex offenders.
What's next:
The bill was referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
No meetings have been scheduled for the committee to review the proposed law.
The Source: A copy of HB 4938, Rep. Schriver's X account, and previous reporting were used in this story.
Total porn ban proposed by Michigan lawmakers
Michigan lawmakers proposed a bill last week banning porn. This comes after the bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford), said earlier this year that he was working to draft legislation banning all porn online.