LANSING, Mich.—A far-right Michigan state lawmaker announced earlier this week that he is amending a bill he and other Republicans introduced to ban pornography and transgender-related material on the internet within the digital space of the state.
Rep. Josh Schriver introduced House Bill (HB) 4938, the so-called "Anticorruption of Public Morals Act," earlier this month, presenting the bill as a "public decency and public safety solution" to what he views as harmful speech that is available on the internet.
After pushback and Schriver's proposal going viral, he announced on Sept. 24 to his followers on the social network X that he is amending the bill to remove provisions related to virtual private networks (VPNs) and other means he defined in the bill as "circumvention tools" to beat out a content block if it were to become law.
"I will not be advancingn ... [the act] ... as is," he posted. "I am drafting a new version that removes all language regarding VPNs and non-pornographic imagery to ensure this policy only addresses pornography."
The first version of HB 4938 explicitly prohibited the use of "circumvention tools," thereby advocating for the outlawing of tools like VPNs and encryption tunneling.
In response to "non-pornographic imagery" amendments that he intends to put into the bill, he likely will redefine what is classified as "prohibited materials" under HB 4938. An initial definition was broad, ultimately speaking to any form of media that is available that features sexual themes, but is not considered pornographic.
There is no indication as to whether he will soften the more transphobic provisions in the bill, which explicitly characterize this form of prohibited material as content that "includes a disconnection between biology and gender by an individual of one biological sex imitating, depicting, or representing himself or herself to be of the other biological sex."
Corey Silverstein, an attorney specializing in First Amendment cases that intersect with the adult entertainment industry, told AVN in previous coverage of the bill that it is "outrageous" and "has essentially no chance of survival" before the state legislature. Silverstein practices law and resides in Michigan.
