Last week, four members of Congress sent a letter to Attorney General Barr calling on the Trump administration to follow through on a campaign promise to enforce obscenity laws to stop the spread of pornography.
The letter, sent by Jim Banks (R-Indiana), Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina), Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri), and Brian Babin (R-Texas), points out that the explosion of pornography coincides with increases in human trafficking and violence toward women. It also makes the point that children are increasingly exposed to pornography on the internet.
Pornography takes sex, something designed by God for good, and distorts it by divorcing it from its purpose. Rather than an expression of intimacy between husband and wife, pornography treats sex as a commodity in which human beings become objects to be viewed and used the sexual gratification of another.
Although many defenses of pornography emphasize “consenting adults,” the reality is that pornography is fed by and fuels human trafficking. Content on pornography websites frequently shows the rape and abuse of sex trafficking victims. When people are treated as objects rather than humans violence follows, and there is no way around the fact that pornography monetizes sexual violence. Pornography commodifies women (and men) and this is not without consequences. Violence is mainstream in the pornography industry, and it isn’t just conservatives who are pointing this out. Feminist activists, and even porn producers have called attention to the increasingly violent behavior that is normalized through pornography.
Pornography’s exploitation is not limited to its production. According to a statement from Congressman Banks, nine out of every ten boys under the age of 18 have seen pornography. Pornography forges new neuronal pathways in the brain, essentially training the brain to crave pornography. In other words, pornography is addictive. Research from the U.K. indicates that a growing number of children are addicted to pornography. Exposure to pornographic material puts children at risk and increases the likelihood that they will sexually abuse other children. Considering that PornHub intentionally markets to minors, there is no way that the pornography industry can claim that they are not complicit in this.
Given the very real harms that pornography has on children, as well as the fact that the pornography industry exploits women, the request that the Department of Justice enforce existing obscenity laws to address this problem.
Those who argue against such enforcement would do well to remember a couple of things. First, as Sohrab Ahmari pointed out, Reno v. ACLU, the Supreme Court case that deregulated internet pornography, was decided on a very narrow margin and on the assumption that the internet was “not as invasive” as radio or television. 20 years later, this argument is clearly outdated, providing grounds for revisiting criminalization of internet pornography.
Secondly, just because something is on the internet does not mean that it cannot be regulated. David Marcus writes in The Federalist,
The idea that just because porn has moved from brick and mortar stores to the Internet means it can no longer be regulated, or that we don’t have the means to do so, is patently absurd. There is no magical protection from government oversight that poofs out of nowhere just because a product is sold online. The state has just as much right to regulate Pornhub as it did to regulate the porn shops in Time Square.
Pornography websites recklessly expose children to pornography and, as Constitutional law professor Gerard Bradley argues, such recklessness ought to be prosecuted. This would place an incentive on pornography sites to self-regulate and reduce the pervasiveness and availability of internet porn, thus reducing the harm that the industry does to children through early exposure. Bradley also argues for addressing the source by prosecuting porn producers. This would not eradicate pornography, but selective and strategic enforcement would reduce the supply and reenforce the message that this exploitation must be stopped.
The letter to Attorney General Barr is right in calling on President Trump to follow through with his campaign promise and address the growing problem of pornography. But at the same time, this is a battle that needs to be fought on multiple fronts. The fight against pornography cannot be won merely through policy. Only 55% of adults over 25 believe that pornography is wrong. The number is even lower among teenagers, with only 43% believing that pornography harms society. There needs to be public recognition that pornography is never harmless. This begins on an individual level with a lifestyle that radically rejects pornography. But it can’t be left at an individual level, because the effects go far beyond the individual. Pornography has very real societal harms. It has a devastating effect on marriages, it robs children of their innocence, and it exploits the people who are used in its production.
There is nothing healthy or empowering about pornography. As such, there is no reason to give it legal cover that implicitly sends the message that it’s not that big of a deal. We need to send a loud and clear message, through our policies, our lifestyle, and our day to day interactions, that pornography is unacceptable.
