Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) December 2, 2024: The journalists Jesus Jank Curbelo and Wendy Selene Perez co-authored the article "Texas' war on porn" (dated December 1, 2024) at the El Pais in English website:
In their article, they highlight the provisions of the Texas law known as HB 1181, which was passed by the Texas legislature in 2023.
Briefly, the Texas law HB 1181 "mandates that entities distributing adult content [on the internet] verify the ages of users". "Under the law, a digital platform is not considered pornographic if less than a third of its content is 'sexual material harmful to minors.' But if that threshold is exceeded, the platform must ensure that only adult over 18 can access the content."
Now, we might pause here for a moment and wonder exactly how pornographic "sexual material [is, or may be] harmful to minors."
In other words, what exactly are the alleged harms being done to minors who view heterosexual porn on the internet?
To play the devil's advocate, "Couldn't it be argued that heterosexual porn videos are good for young boys and young girls to view as instructional materials to learn about heterosexual sex acts as a way to introduce them and perhaps also instruct them in the delights of heterosexual sex acts?"
Yes, the devil's advocate might argue this position. But the devil's advocate did not prevail in the Texas legislature in 2023.
According to Jesus Jank Curbelo and Wendy Selene Perez, "HB 1181 was passed in May 2023 with 133 votes in favor, two abstentions, 13 absences, and a single vote against.
"[I]t [HB 1181] went into effect in September of the same year, following a ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that declared [that] the law did not violate constitutional rights [of freedom of expression and privacy].
"In February 2024, Attorney General Ken Paxton's office filed lawsuits against several tech companies.
"Some platforms have responded by blocking access to their sites in Texas."
Now, the single vote against HB 1181 was cast by the 68-year-old Democrat lawyer Maria Luisa Flores.
Our co-authors tell us what concerns Maria Luisa flores had about HB 1181:
"'With the bill, we had some health warnings about the potential of the material, so there needed to be some warnings. And I thought that was an overreach by the Senate,' she said. She was concerned that research of porn addiction 'was too broad and didn't present any real substantive evidence'. Indeed, there is no definitive conclusion on this issue.
"According to a study published in Nature, the only non-substance-related disorder classified alongside use disorders is gambling."
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