Political Attacks

The phrase “porn in schools” hit like a fire alarm a few years ago. Loud, emotional, impossible to ignore. In 2021, the conservative group Florida Citizens Alliance released its “Porn in Schools Report,” a publication later amplified by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The report claimed sexually inappropriate material was being made available to students in schools. But the books at the center of the controversy weren’t explicit websites or illicit images. They were books written for children and teenagers.

Now, lawmakers in Congress are revisiting that same debate through the proposed Stop the Sexualization of Children Act. The bill would withhold federal funding from schools and libraries that provide access to what its sponsors describe as “sexually oriented material.”

Over five years of tracking book removals nationwide, PEN America says it has not identified a single banned school library book that legally qualifies as pornography. Distributing pornography in schools is already a felony offense carrying potential prison time. Despite repeated allegations surrounding “pornographic” books, the organization says none of the thousands of challenged titles it reviewed meet either a legal or commonly accepted definition of pornography.

According to PEN America, many of the books challenged or removed instead contain LGBTQ+ characters and themes, discussions of race and racism, sexual experiences, or difficult subject matter such as gun violence and sexual abuse.

Supporters of removing the books argue the effort is about protecting children from harmful material. Opponents counter that literature and storytelling remain essential parts of public education and argue students should have access to a wide range of perspectives, identities, histories and experiences through books.

Laney Hawes, co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project, once remarked that “Fear is effective.” That sentiment has become central to the broader debate over book restrictions in schools. Concerns initially framed around pornography, critics argue, expanded into broader disputes involving diversity, equity and inclusion programs, educators, librarians, and discussions surrounding gender identity. In response, states and local governments across the country adopted policies and laws regulating material considered “harmful to minors” or “sexually explicit.”

PEN America says vague language in those policies has often led schools and districts to remove books more broadly than intended. Critics of the congressional proposal question how schools would interpret the measure if it became law. They point to books such as In the Night Kitchen, which includes illustrations of childhood nudity, or Red: A Crayon’s Story, a title frequently associated with themes of identity and acceptance.

The legislation also contains exemptions for certain literary classics identified by Compass Classroom, a homeschooling educational program built around a Bible-based curriculum. However, modern works including The Kite Runner and The Bluest Eye are not specifically exempted. Critics say those books could face restrictions because they contain depictions of sexual violence. They also point to books involving transgender characters, including Gracefully Grayson, as examples of titles that could be affected under the proposal.

If enacted, the bill would place school districts nationwide — including those that have resisted book removals — into the center of the growing debate over educational content. This week, more than 100 organizations urged voters to contact members of Congress and oppose the legislation.

Critics of the proposal argue that claims involving pornography, dangerous books, or harmful educators have shaped public debates in communities across the country despite little evidence supporting many of the accusations. They say the controversy has increasingly blurred distinctions between explicit material and books that simply address difficult or controversial subjects.

Some opponents also argue the effort connects to a broader political movement supporting school vouchers and expanded private education options, themes associated with Project 2025. Others point to parents who encounter isolated excerpts from books online and later campaign for their removal, despite ongoing disagreement among researchers and educators about whether exposure to such literature causes harm.

At the same time, students, parents, teachers, librarians and authors continue pushing back against book removals in schools. Supporters of broader access to literature argue books can strengthen critical thinking, improve academic performance, encourage empathy and reduce stress. Multiple studies examining reading habits have found positive educational and emotional outcomes tied to recreational reading.

Some educators and advocates also argue that books discussing sexuality or relationships can provide students with information about consent and healthy relationships rather than encouraging harmful behavior.

Polling and advocacy efforts around the country suggest many students and parents support maintaining broad access to books, even when certain content may be uncomfortable or controversial. Critics of book bans argue that disagreement with a book’s themes should not result in restricting access for all students or eliminating discussions involving certain identities or perspectives.

Meanwhile, reading for pleasure among children has continued to decline over the past two decades. For many educators and literacy advocates, that trend may be one of the larger concerns quietly sitting beneath the noise of the current debate.

LOS ANGELES — Dutch prosecutors and law enforcement authorities have moved to shut down the controversial tube platform Motherless.com, marking a major escalation in the growing international scrutiny surrounding the site.

The takedown effort appeared to begin Thursday. The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service confirmed to multiple news organizations that a preliminary investigation is underway to determine whether the site’s operators engaged in criminal conduct.

Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported that prosecutors acted following its own investigation alongside reporting by CNN in the United States. According to NOS, authorities determined that Netherlands-based hosting provider NFOrce Internet Services was hosting content tied to Motherless.com users.

Under mounting pressure, NFOrce informed the operators of Motherless.com that hosting services had been suspended pending the outcome of what the company described as an internal “abuse and compliance escalation” review.

“Following recent media publications and additional internal review, NFOrce initiated an enhanced compliance and abuse-handling review relating to Motherless.com,” the company said in a published statement.

NFOrce also released portions of correspondence sent to its listed point of contact for the site.

“Given the seriousness of the matters raised publicly, including allegations relating to potentially unlawful, exploitative, or non-consensual content categories, NFOrce requires your urgent written response and confirmation regarding the matters outlined below,” wrote NFOrce director Simon Elimeleh in the notice. “This review is being conducted as part of NFOrce’s ongoing abuse-handling, compliance, and risk assessment obligations as an infrastructure provider.”

NFOrce said the site’s operators were given between 12 and 24 hours to respond to several requests outlined in the letter, which was sent Thursday, May 7.

Among the demands were requirements for an “immediate content review and removal,” along with an audit of keywords, category tags, trust and safety procedures, and overall legal compliance practices.

“Failure to provide a complete and satisfactory response within the requested timeframe, failure to demonstrate appropriate remediation efforts, or failure to comply with applicable legal or contractual obligations may result in further review of the continuation of services, including possible suspension or termination measures where appropriate,” Elimeleh said.

Motherless.com has faced criticism for years over allegations involving illegal and non-consensual material, as well as widespread copyright infringement. Following detailed investigations published by CNN and NOS, pressure intensified on Dutch authorities to pursue legal action against the platform.

According to CNN’s reporting, investigators identified extensive amounts of abusive and unlawful content on the site. The report described the platform as part of what it called a global “rape academy,” including online groups where men allegedly discussed and encouraged sexual violence against partners and spouses. The investigation also documented videos depicting gender-based violence and alleged drug-facilitated assaults, including so-called “sleep” videos involving individuals believed to be unconscious or under the influence of drugs.

The platform has also faced regulatory pressure elsewhere in Europe. In the United Kingdom, digital regulator Ofcomhas been pursuing enforcement actions tied to age-verification requirements and other provisions under the Online Safety Act. Motherless previously received fines totaling nearly $1.1 million over compliance failures connected to those rules.

Motherless is reportedly operated by Kick Online Entertainment, a Luxembourg-registered entity. Dutch authorities are also examining other affiliated companies connected to the operation, including businesses reportedly based in Costa Rica and other jurisdictions.

LOS ANGELES — Aylo, the parent company behind Pornhub.com, reached an agreement last week with the state of Utah that temporarily pauses enforcement of a law aimed at stopping people from using virtual private networks to bypass the state’s age-verification requirements. According to court filings, enforcement is now scheduled to begin Sept. 3.

The agreement follows a lawsuit Aylo filed in late April against Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection and Department of Commerce in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. The complaint alleges multiple constitutional violations, including claims that the state’s actions interfere with interstate and foreign commerce protections outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit also argues that Utah is engaging in what it describes as “unlawful state extraterritorial regulation.” Aylo Freesites Ltd. and Aylo Group Ltd. are foreign corporate entities connected to Aylo’s broader ownership structure, which is headquartered in Montreal, Québec, and ultimately controlled by Ottawa-based Ethical Capital Partners.

“This new law is unconstitutional for three independent reasons: it constitutes impermissible extraterritorial legislation, it violates the dormant Commerce Clause, and it also violates the Foreign Commerce Clause by interfering with purely international transactions involving foreign entities and foreign nationals,” attorneys for the plaintiffs argued in court filings.

Representing the plaintiffs are Annika L. Jones and Brandon S. Fuller, partner and associate at the Salt Lake City office of Snell & Wilmer LLP.

Aylo is also represented by attorneys from the Washington, D.C., office of Jenner & Block LLP, including managing partner Lindsay Harrison, partner Jessica Ring Amunson and special counsel Daniel Schwei. Attorneys for the state of Utah later reached the agreement with Aylo’s legal team to postpone enforcement of the VPN-related provisions.

Earlier this year, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed Senate Bill 73 into law. The measure imposes a 2 percent excise tax on adult content sold digitally within the state. Included in the legislation is a provision prohibiting users from using VPNs or similar IP-masking tools to bypass age-verification systems and content restrictions.

When Utah first enacted site-level age-verification requirements in 2023, Aylo responded by geoblocking access within the state. At the same time, VPN services remained widely available through major app marketplaces, making it relatively simple for users to circumvent geographic restrictions.

Lawmakers introduced SB 73 in part to address that issue, and the proposal moved through Utah’s Republican-controlled legislature with limited opposition.

The law states that “an individual is considered to be accessing the website from this state if the individual is actually located in the state, regardless of whether the individual is using a virtual private network, proxy server, or other means to disguise or misrepresenting the individual’s geographic location to make it appear that the individual is accessing a website from a location outside this state.” The legislation also seeks to prohibit publishing information that promotes the use of VPNs to evade age checks.

Enforcement of the VPN-related provision had been expected to begin today. Under the new agreement, however, enforcement is delayed until Sept. 3. The 2 percent excise tax is still set to take effect in October.

“[The] defendants shall not take enforcement action or otherwise seek to impose liability pursuant to [the bill] for any conduct by plaintiffs or their affiliates that occurs during the period of forbearance,” a memo filed with the court states. The filing was signed by attorneys representing Aylo as well as lawyers from the office of Utah Attorney General Derek Brown.

“During that period, Plaintiffs and their affiliates shall also not change any of their current geofencing practices in Utah,” the memo continues, effectively preserving the current status quo while the litigation proceeds.

Lawrence Walters, an attorney known for handling litigation involving the adult entertainment industry, described the agreement as a practical decision.

“The state was smart to agree to forego enforcement of this ill-considered law pending review by the courts,” Walters said.

He added, “The expectation to identify the location of users who access a website through a VPN is an impossibility. The law is extremely vulnerable to constitutional challenges, and the state could be on the hook for significant damages and attorneys’ fees, particularly if it moved forward with enforcement proceedings.”

A major argument in Aylo’s lawsuit is that SB 73 could cause irreparable damage to both its business operations and broader access to privacy-focused internet technology.

“There is no feasible way for a company like Aylo to reliably verify whether any particular individual is using a VPN, proxy server, or other location-masking technology—and therefore no way to determine whether a user who appears to be located outside Utah is, in fact, located inside Utah,” an Aylo spokesperson said.

The company also argues that Utah lacks legal standing to regulate conduct occurring beyond its borders.

“Utah is projecting its policy choices onto conduct occurring entirely outside its borders, in states and countries that have made different legislative judgments,” the spokesperson added. “It is our opinion that this new law is unconstitutional and that no single state has constitutional authority to set the terms under which a global company may operate on the global Internet.”

Adult industry attorney Corey Silverstein said the case raises broader questions extending beyond Utah alone.

“Aylo’s lawsuit underscores the growing constitutional collision between online age-verification mandates and digital privacy rights,” Silverstein said. “While lawmakers frame these laws as child-protection measures, the practical effect is forcing adults to surrender sensitive personal information to access legal content online.

“That raises serious First Amendment, cybersecurity and anonymity concerns, especially when states continue expanding these laws beyond websites and toward VPNs, app stores and broader internet access,” he added. “The courts are now being asked to decide whether governments can effectively build a digital ID checkpoint system around lawful speech.”

VPN technology continues to present challenges for regulators attempting to enforce age-verification rules in multiple jurisdictions. In Indiana, for example, state officials have sued Aylo, alleging the company violated local age-verification requirements by failing to block traffic routed through VPNs and proxy services.

Utah, having discovered the same thing noticed by literally every other jurisdiction to impose an age gate on sexually explicit content, recently ‘updated’ its age-verification mandate to penalize website operators who “facilitate or encourage” the use of a virtual private network (VPN), proxy server, or “other means to circumvent age verification requirements.”

The amended law also holds that “an individual is considered to be accessing the website from this state if the individual is actually located in the state, regardless of whether the individual is using a virtual private network, proxy server, or other means to disguise or misrepresent the individual’s geographic location to make it appear that the individual is accessing a website from a location outside this state.”

The changes to Utah’s law don’t amount to a “ban” on VPN use in the state, but the provisions related to preventing covered entities from facilitating or encouraging VPN use have a clear chilling effect – and present a legal pitfall that goes beyond simply requiring adult websites to verify a user’s age.

“By holding companies liable for verifying the age of anyone physically in Utah, even those using a VPN, the law creates a massive ‘liability trap,’” noted Rindala Alajaji, Associate Director of State Affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Just like we argued in the case of the Wisconsin bill, if a website cannot reliably detect a VPN user’s true location and the law requires it to do so for all users in a particular state, then the legal risk could push the site to either ban all known VPN IPs, or to mandate age verification for every visitor globally. This would subject millions of users to invasive identity checks or blocks to their VPN use, regardless of where they actually live.”

And while the Utah law doesn’t go as far as one version of the Wisconsin bill would have (a bill that has been vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers), as Alajaji observed, “muzzling the websites themselves from sharing information about VPNs… raises significant First Amendment concerns, as it prevents platforms from providing basic, truthful information about a lawful privacy tool to their users.”

So, while the law doesn’t outright ban the use of a VPN or other means of circumventing an age gate or geofence, this silver lining only goes so far in blunting the law’s chilling effect on speech.

“Under a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ style of enforcement, websites likely only have an obligation to ask for proof of age if they actually learn that a user is physically in Utah and using a VPN,” Alajaji wrote. “If a site doesn’t know a user is in Utah, their broader obligation to police VPNs remains murky. So, while SB 73 isn’t as extreme as the discarded Wisconsin proposal, it remains a dangerous precedent.”

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a discussion of an age-verification law if someone didn’t point out the (obvious) privacy implications underlying it all. As one resident of the state put it in a recently published letter to the Salt Lake Tribune, “SB73 pushes adults toward handing over identifying information just to access legal online material. That creates real privacy risks.”

“Once identification systems are built, the information can be stored, breached, misused or demanded for other purposes later,” the letter’s author added. “Utah lawmakers may call this child protection, but it looks a lot more like another government-approved tracking system.”

Twisting the rhetorical knife a bit further, the letter adds that “Utah has a bad habit of passing laws that sound moral in a committee hearing but become a technical and constitutional mess in the real world” and “SB73 fits that pattern.”

“Protecting children matters. But turning every adult internet user into a walking ID check is not protection,” the letter concludes. “It is surveillance with a family-values bumper sticker.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Aylo announced Tuesday that Pornhub access has been restored in the United Kingdom for Apple users who complete Apple’s age-verification process through iOS devices.

The company said the change follows Apple’s rollout of device-based age verification in the U.K. through iOS 26.4.

In a statement, Aylo Vice President of Brand and Community Alex Kekesi said, “For years, Aylo has advocated for device-based age verification as the most effective and privacy-protecting approach to help prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content online. With the release of iOS 26.4, Apple has introduced the world’s first-ever device-based age verification solution for its users in the U.K., a major first step toward a global solution that stands to better protect children everywhere. As a result, today Aylo welcomes eligible age-confirmed U.K. iOS users back to Pornhub.”

Aylo had previously implemented age-assurance measures in the U.K. to comply with requirements under the Online Safety Act. In February 2026, however, the company began restricting access to its free video-sharing platforms in the country unless users had existing accounts, citing concerns about what it described as flaws in the law’s verification framework.

Following Apple’s March release of iOS 26.4, the company introduced account-level age verification for U.K. users. Aylo said the system represents “one of the strongest and hardest to circumvent protections currently available for helping prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content.”

During a press conference Tuesday, Ethical Capital Partners partner Solomon Friedman said the ownership group behind Aylo welcomed Apple’s implementation of device-based age assurance across the U.K., while Kekesi described the rollout as “a huge step.”

“We believe this is the path forward,” Kekesi said, adding that the company hopes similar systems will eventually expand to other operating systems and additional international markets.

Aylo has previously blocked access to its sites in several U.S. states with age-verification laws, along with France and Australia. Kekesi said the restoration of access in the U.K. marks the first time the company has resumed operations in a market after suspending access over verification concerns.

“This is the first time we are effectively coming back to a market because we have a solution that in our view permits us to do that in the safest way possible,” she said. “This is a really exciting day.”

Kekesi said the verification process takes place within Apple’s ecosystem, eliminating the need for users to complete additional verification steps directly on the site.

“It offers a much more seamless experience to the user,” Kekesi said.

Friedman said Aylo views that process as important because users often migrate to sites that do not comply with verification requirements when verification systems become cumbersome.

“Right now, when you Google ‘free porn’ from the U.K., half the results Google and Bing return are sites that are noncompliant,” Friedman said.

Friedman also said Apple’s system satisfies the company’s standards for effective age assurance because it does not require users to provide personal information directly to websites and is more difficult to bypass than many existing platform-based systems.

“Apple’s got it right,” Friedman said.

Ethical Capital Partners partner Sarah Bain said the restored access currently applies only to Pornhub and not to other Aylo-owned platforms including YouPorn and Redtube.

“Aylo is rolling this out in a measured way,” Bain said.

RALEIGH, N.C. — A proposal moving through the North Carolina legislature would place a new 10% tax on certain adult materials sold at brick-and-mortar stores across the state.

Filed last week by three state senators, SB 1007 would create what it calls a “harmful materials tax” on visual content considered “prurient” and harmful to minors when sold in any physical retail setting.

The bill defines those materials as “pictures, drawings, video recordings, films or other visual or physical depictions or representations, including digital or computer-generated visual depictions or representations created, adapted, or modified by technological means, such as algorithms or artificial intelligence, but not material consisting entirely of written words.”

Under the proposal, the 10% tax would apply to gross receipts from the sale of such material. The language does not distinguish between adult-only businesses and general retailers, meaning any store offering adult videos, magazines, or similar visual content that meets the definition could fall under the tax.

That definition reads: “Any material or performance that depicts sexually explicit nudity or sexual activity and that, taken as a whole, has the following characteristics: a. The average adult person applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance has a predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest of minors in sex; and b. The average adult person applying contemporary community standards would find that the depiction of sexually explicit nudity or sexual activity in the material or performance is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community concerning what is suitable for minors; and c. The material or performance lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.”

North Carolina has enacted several measures related to adult content in recent years. In 2025, lawmakers overrode a gubernatorial veto to pass the Prevent Sexual Exploitation of Women and Minors Act. The law requires age and consent verification for performers beyond federal record-keeping standards under Section 2257, mandates written consent for each sexual act depicted, and requires separate consent for distribution. It also requires platforms to remove content if a performer withdraws consent at any time, regardless of prior agreements.

Elsewhere, lawmakers have pursued a range of taxes and regulatory measures affecting adult content.

Utah and Alabama have adopted excise taxes on adult sites, while proposals in Virginia and Pennsylvania would introduce similar policies. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling that allowed enforcement of a 2001 zoning law aimed at limiting the locations of adult retail stores in New York City.

In Tennessee, a separate bill would require adult businesses, including stores and theaters, to post warnings stating that patrons “may be contributing” to sexual assault and human trafficking. The measure is expected to be sent to the governor.

SB 1007 has been referred to the North Carolina Senate Rules and Operations Committee.

Utah’s Senate Bill 73 will take effect May 6, adding new requirements to the state’s age verification law. Websites covered by the law will be prohibited from explaining how VPNs can be used to bypass age restrictions. They will also be responsible for enforcing age verification for users physically located in Utah, even when a user’s virtual location appears to be outside the state.

The provisions are framed as updates to Utah’s existing age verification law, but they could have broader legal and technical implications. One provision bars covered businesses from discussing VPN workarounds on their websites, a restriction that could face First Amendment challenges.

The location-enforcement provision has raised concerns among online freedom advocates. A VPN can make a user appear to be accessing a website from another state or country. Under the law, if an underage Utah resident uses a VPN to appear outside Utah and gains access to restricted material, the website could face liability.

The law leaves affected online businesses with limited options. One option would be to require age verification for all users, regardless of location, which would affect every visitor to the site and could reduce traffic or revenue.

Another option would be to attempt to block VPN traffic. That approach can be technically difficult because VPN traffic can be made to resemble ordinary web traffic. Websites often rely on blocking IP addresses associated with VPN services, but VPN providers can add new addresses.

Blocking VPN use also raises broader rights concerns. In many countries, VPN access is associated with privacy and free expression protections. Utah’s law places new pressure on websites to determine a user’s physical location in a way that may be difficult to enforce without broader restrictions on privacy tools.

So far, states have largely avoided outright VPN bans. A proposal to ban VPNs in Wisconsin failed after similar concerns were raised. Utah’s law does not impose a total VPN ban, but legal challenges to the measure and similar age verification laws are expected in the weeks and months ahead.

BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s data protection regulator has opened the door for public input as it works to refine how a new law affecting online content — including adult websites — will be applied in practice.

The National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) said it is accepting comments on the Digital Statute for Children and Adolescents (Digital ECA), a measure that requires age verification for users accessing adult content from within Brazil.

The consultation period began Thursday and is scheduled to run through June 15. ANPD described the effort as “an opportunity to promote a collaborative and transparent process, allowing experts, public sector entities, civil society organizations, and citizens to contribute to the improvement of regulatory practices.”

At the center of the process is a guidance document still being developed. The goal is to define how the law should be interpreted and what it requires from companies offering digital services — including adult content platforms — under legislation signed in March by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Under the statute, providers must implement age verification measures that go beyond simple self-declaration. The requirement applies regardless of where a platform is based, as long as it serves users in Brazil. The ANPD has outlined initial expectations for compliance and indicated that enforcement will roll out in phases, with the current consultation forming part of the first stage.

The agency said the final guidance is expected to clarify who falls under the law, how obligations such as prevention, protection, information, and security should be understood, and how key definitions — including “supplier of information technology products or services directed at or likely to be accessed by children and adolescents” and “service providers with editorial control” — should be interpreted.

“The Guide aims to provide greater predictability and legal certainty to the application of the law … It seeks to provide transparent guidance and directives for companies and stakeholders, as well as to establish understandings and best practices that can assist in the implementation process of the new regulations,” the ANPD said in a statement.

The agency also noted that a draft version of the guidance is already available through its consultation platform.

Participants who want to submit comments or questions can do so through that portal. Those accessing it from outside Brazil are required to provide passport information.

DES MOINES, Iowa—A revised age verification measure aimed at online pornography platforms cleared the Iowa Senate on Wednesday with unanimous support, advancing legislation focused on material classified as “harmful to minors.”

House File (HF) 864 passed by a 46-0 vote during a floor session at the state Capitol.

The bill traces back to the 2025 session, when it was first introduced and approved on a similarly unanimous vote. The Iowa House moved it forward late that year, but final action was postponed until lawmakers returned for the current session.

Lawmakers updated the proposal following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a similar law in Texas, making adjustments intended to align the Iowa measure with that ruling and improve its chances of withstanding judicial scrutiny.

With Senate approval complete, the bill goes back to the House for further consideration. It is not expected to encounter significant opposition. Republicans control the legislature and hold a majority just shy of a supermajority.

The measure is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds, positioning Iowa among the states implementing age verification requirements for adult content online.

If enacted, enforcement authority would rest with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, led by Brenna Bird.

Websites and platforms found in violation could face fines of up to $10,000 per violation.

“The attorney general may bring a civil action to provide for civil penalties in an amount not more than $100,000” if a platform ignores a legal injunction, the bill states.

Consistent with similar laws in other states, the proposal allows companies to rely on third-party providers offering “reasonable” age verification methods. Those providers would be barred from retaining user data but could be required to provide information if ordered by a state court.

The legislation also directs the attorney general’s office to create an electronic reporting system, enabling alleged violations to be submitted for investigation.

Over the course of the nearly 30 years, I’ve worked in the adult entertainment industry; I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written about and discussed the nature of American obscenity laws. In this new series of articles, “Origins of the War on Porn,” we’ll examine some of the roots of the long-running effort by elements of American society to stamp out pornography, including key pieces of legislation dating back to the late 19^th Century.

One of the most significant of these laws is the Comstock Act of 1873, which criminalized the use of the United States Postal Service to transmit obscene materials. Bear in mind, this was long before the existence of the “Miller Test,” the modern definition of obscenity established by the Supreme Court; as such, much of the material which would constitute a violation of the Comstock Act would strike modern viewers as quite tame.

The Comstock Act was named for Anthony Comstock, a staunch Christian who was born in rural Connecticut, then moved to New York after serving in the Civil War. Comstock was shocked by the city, which seemed to him a place “teeming with prostitutes and pornography,” as PBS put it in profiling Comstock.

Determined to shape the city’s sexual mores to his liking, Comstock began supplying police information on local prostitution operations to assist in their anti-vice efforts. Comstock was also taken aback by ads for contraception devices, so he soon adopted the contraceptive industry as another source of societal ills.

In 1872, Comstock began lobbying in Washington for the passage of an anti-obscenity bill, which would include a ban on contraceptives, which the determined activist had penned himself. He succeeded in his lobbying, and the Comstock Act was attached as a rider to the Post Office Consolidation Act of 1872.

Codified largely at 18 USC §1461 and 1462, the Comstock Act has been amended many times over the decades – as has the legal definitions of terms like “obscene” and “indecent,” which are peppered throughout the statutes. Still, even after these amendments, the core principles of the Act remain in place.

18 USC §1461 still prohibits the use of the U.S. mail to send any “obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, motion-picture film, paper, letter, writing, print, or other matter of indecent character; or any obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy phonograph recording, electrical transcription, or other article or thing capable of producing sound; or any drug, medicine, article, or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion.” (In 1958, the law was amended to replace “preventing conception” with “producing abortion” in the last line quoted above.)

Comstock himself might be gratified to learn that his namesake law still survives, but he’d likely be aghast at how watered down it has become in its application and definitions. Credit for that reduction in scope and efficacy goes in part to a very different American activist, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood who successfully challenged the Comstock Act when she opened the first birth control clinic in the country.

Of course, you are familiar with Sanger, you know her legacy as an advocate for women’s rights is complicated by her beliefs on eugenics, which in recent years have been used as a means for social conservatives to attack the organization she founded. Planned Parenthood has disavowed Sanger’s stated beliefs, noting as they did so that “today, anti-reproductive rights activists continue to attack Sanger as a strategy to undermine the crucial services Planned Parenthood currently provides.”

As both Comstock and Sanger demonstrate, the battles that underpin the War on Porn (as well as what many people have termed the “War on Women”) have their roots in debates and disagreements far older than anyone reading this article. Over 150 years after the Comstock Act was established, the issues that animated it are as contentious as they were in Comstock’s time.

Proof of the continuing influence of the Comstock Act and the man for whom it is named can be found in articles like this one from the Kaiser Family Foundation, titled “The Comstock Act: Implications for Abortion Care Nationwide,” published in 2024. Among other things, the article notes the Comstock Act “could be used by a future presidential administration opposed to abortion rights to sharply restrict abortion nationwide.” (President Trump declining to do exactly that angered some of his supporters not long after the KFF article was published).

Echoes of the Comstock Act also can be found in the ongoing effort to restrict access to online porn, or in more extreme cases, ban porn altogether. As these efforts demonstrate, Anthony Comstock might be long gone, but there are many folks happy to walk in his footsteps – and to become the next foot soldiers for their side of the War on Porn.