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LANSING, Mich. — Michigan lawmakers have introduced legislation that would criminalize the distribution of pornography over the internet within the state.
HB 4938, introduced last week by six Republican members of the state House of Representatives, seeks to “prohibit the distribution of certain material on the internet that corrupts the public morals.” While pornography is the primary target, the bill also includes provisions that would criminalize depictions of transgender people.
The proposal defines “pornographic material” broadly, covering “any content, digital, streamed, or otherwise distributed on the internet, the primary purpose of which is to sexually arouse or gratify, including videos, erotica, magazines, stories, manga, material generated by artificial intelligence, live feeds, or sound clips.”
Although the bill appears to exempt material protected by the First Amendment, its language leaves unclear how such a ban could be legally enforced, given that pornography is considered constitutionally protected speech. The legislation states that “prohibited material” refers to content not shielded by the First Amendment, but its wording raises concerns about vagueness and potential overreach.
First Amendment attorney Corey D. Silverstein suggested the bill attempts to tie enforcement to the “Miller test,” which determines whether material is legally obscene. However, he noted the language is “poorly written,” making the proposal “vague and ambiguous” and possibly an effort to weaken the established legal standard.
Penalties under the proposed law are severe: up to 20 years in prison, fines of up to $100,000, or both, with additional civil fines of up to $500,000 per violation. The bill also requires internet service providers to deploy “mandatory filtering technology” to block Michigan residents from accessing prohibited material, monitor and block circumvention tools, and restrict specific websites when ordered by a court.
To enforce the measure, the bill calls for the creation of a “special internet content enforcement division” within the state attorney general’s office, staffed with digital forensic analysts, legal experts, cybersecurity specialists and investigators.
Silverstein expressed skepticism about the bill’s future, citing the state’s political landscape. “This bill has virtually no chance of going anywhere, given the current makeup of the Michigan legislature and its far-left Democrat governor,” he said. “The bill is unconstitutional at every turn. Regardless, it is alarming that this type of thinking and government waste continues to occur.”
The bill has been referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Debates over online pornography bans have intensified in recent months. Earlier this year, Senator Mike Lee (R–Utah) introduced federal legislation that would redefine nearly all visual depictions of sex as obscene, aligning with proposals outlined in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a policy blueprint that has influenced the Trump administration’s agenda.
