Oklahoma Senator Proposes Bill to Criminalize Pornography Viewing and Restrict Sexting

An Oklahoma state senator has introduced a controversial bill that aims to criminalize the viewing of pornography and regulate sexting activities. Senator Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin), who is also a Baptist pastor, has proposed legislation that would categorize watching pornography as a felony and prohibit sexting among unmarried individuals, according to the New York Post.

Set to be introduced next month, Deevers’ bill seeks to ban the consumption or production of sexual content that does not serve serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific purposes. The proposed law broadly defines “obscene material” to include depictions or descriptions of various sexual acts, both normal and perverted, real or simulated. It further extends to content portraying sodomy, masturbation, sadomasochistic abuse, and acts involving excretion in a sexual context.

Under the proposed law, images of human genitals, women’s breasts, and lewd exhibitions of buttocks would also face prohibition. Violation of these stipulations could result in up to a year in prison and fines of up to $2,000.

In addition to penalizing viewers, the bill would enable Oklahoma residents to sue anyone who produces or promotes content deemed inappropriate, with potential damages of $10,000. Notably, married couples would be exempt from these restrictions, provided they only share explicit content they created together among themselves.

The bill would also impact social media platforms, requiring them to heavily censor content to remain accessible within the state. However, Deevers has acknowledged that parts of the ban might infringe upon First Amendment rights. Consequently, he has included a provision in the bill that allows for severing any unconstitutional applications of the law from those deemed valid.

Deevers’ bill, if passed, would significantly alter the legal landscape surrounding adult content in Oklahoma, setting a precedent for how explicit materials are regulated in the digital age.