Censorship
Etsy Updates Policy to Ban Sale of Most Adult Pleasure Products, Content
Etsy will ban sales of most pleasure products and content that depicts sex acts and genitalia starting July 29.
Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska to Age-Restrict Access to Porn in July
Five U.S. states — Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Nebraska — will begin requiring age verification to access adult sites when the states’ copycat laws promoted by religious conservatives go into effect starting in July.
Malaysian Government Says X Removed Adult Content at Their Request
Malaysia’s Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching told Parliament on Monday that the country’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has worked with X to remove pornographic content from the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Australian Court Upholds Local Censorship Powers of eSafety Commissioner Inman Grant
The ongoing fight between X owner Elon Musk and Australia’s top online censor, unelected eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, over her office’s power to ban specific content in the country and abroad, has moved into murky territory with both sides claiming partial victories.
Lovehoney Australia Fights Billboard Censorship With Cheeky Campaign
Lovehoney Australia has launched a new billboard campaign that playfully addresses the issue of government censorship of pleasure products in public places.
Democratic Senator Tina Smith Proposes Comstock Act Repeal for Sexual Health, Abortion Content
Democratic U.S. Senator for Minnesota Tina Smith announced on Thursday plans to introduce legislation to repeal language in the Comstock Act — the infamous law that was the cornerstone of U.S. censorship of all sexual material from the 1870s until the 1970s — concerning distribution of material related to abortion and sexual health.
Texas Pastor Who Declared 'Spiritual War' Against Porn Resigns Over Molestation Allegation
Texas evangelical pastor Robert Morris, who in 2022 vowed to wage “spiritual war” against material he considered pornographic, resigned this week as senior pastor of the megachurch he founded, after the church’s board of elders reviewed allegations that he had molested a parishioner starting in 1982, when she was 12.
Religious Conservative Groups Use Age Verification Battles to Discipline Dissenting Republicans
Religious conservative leaders and publications celebrated the defeat of sitting Republican state Senator Michael Walsh in a primary election on Tuesday, boasting of the success of their efforts to target him exclusively because he voted against the anti-porn age verification bill they supported.
Utah AG Files Lawsuit Alleging TikTok LIVE is a 'Virtual Strip Club'
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes filed a lawsuit in state court Monday alleging that TikTok’s feature TikTok LIVE operates “like a virtual strip club.”
FSC Director: New Tennessee Age Verification Law is 'Attack on 1st Amendment'
Free Speech Coalition (FSC) Executive Director Alison Boden called Tennessee’s new age verification bill, signed into law by Republican Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday, “an attack not only on the adult industry but on the First Amendment rights of millions of people who engage with adult content online.”
UK Tory Minister Blames Joblessness Crisis on Pornography, Video Games
The U.K. Tory government’s Work and Pensions Secretary this week blamed “pornography and video games” for what he called “a mental health crisis among young men” that he claims has resulted in them leaving the workforce.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin Joins Press Conference Alongside Anti-Porn Crusading Group NCOSE
Democratic U.S. Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin participated in a joint press conference Wednesday organized by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to marshal support for the controversial Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT), alongside crusading anti-porn group NCOSE (formerly Morality in Media).
U of Wisconsin Professor Pens Essay About Crusade to Get Him Fired for Creating Adult Content
A veteran University of Wisconsin professor, who was removed from his post as chancellor last year due to creating and appearing in adult content, has penned a piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education detailing his ordeal and ongoing attempts to fire him from his tenured position.
Heritage Foundation President Calls Trump God's 'Imperfect Instrument' to Achieve Porn Ban
The president of the Heritage Foundation has asserted to CNN that Donald Trump’s notorious interactions with porn stars do not disqualify the presumptive Republican nominee from implementing the conservative organization’s plan to criminalize all production and distribution of adult content.
Former Trump Staffer, Project 2025 Advisor John McEntee Predicts a Total Porn Ban
John McEntee, senior advisor to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and a former key figure in the Trump administration, is predicting an eventual full ban on pornography, claiming that once it is enacted, “this country will flourish.”
Australian Conservatives Raise Concerns About US-Born Online Censor
Long after progressive free speech advocates in Australia questioned eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant over her campaigns to target adult content, conservatives and libertarians are now raising concerns about the powers granted to the country’s top censor — an unelected former tech exec born in the U.S. — with some calling for her ouster.
Republicans Behind Oklahoma's New Age Verification Law Gleeful About Potential Pornhub 'Exit'
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed into law Oklahoma’s version of the age verification legislation being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.
Supreme Court Denies Stay of Texas' Age Verification Law
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request by Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and other plaintiffs to stay Texas’ controversial age verification law while the court decides on a petition that would effectively overturn it on constitutional grounds.
Age Verification: FSC's Mike Stabile Reports from the Front Lines
Two years into the religiously-inspired crusade to curtail access to adult material in the U.S. through carefully drafted “age verification” legislation, the constant onslaught of state-by-state proposals and laws — many of them copied from each other — can be hard to follow.
Judge Acquits Backpage Defendants of Most Charges Before 2nd Retrial
A federal judge has acquitted former Backpage.com co-owner Michael Lacey, and two co-defendants, of most of the counts remaining from the protracted case launched against the website operators by the Justice Department in 2018.