Mike Lee (R) Utah and Rep. Mary Miller (R) IL Introduce Interstate Obscenity Definition ACT (IODA) in Senate and House.  This is attempt number three by Senator Lee to introduce a bill that is based in subjectivity and moral panic.  Mr. Lee portends that unless we pass such legislation that undermines First Amendment rights we will fail to protect children.  “Obscenity isn’t protected by the First Amendment, but hazy and unenforceable legal definitions have allowed extreme pornography to saturate American society and reach countless children,” Mr. Lee said, according to The Independent." (Telegraph, May 14, 2024)  Current Republican leadership often hide behind a smokescreen of noble intentions such as "protect children" striving to insert their authoritarian agenda into public discourse and policy and Mike Lee is no exception.  Mike reveals himself to be an authoritarian with aspirations of a future Supreme Court Justice seat and we must stop him. We cannot allow him to use our children as a ruse to forward his personal subjective agenda.

A May 13, 2024 article by Jacob Mchangama, executive director of The Future of Free Speech and Ashkhen Kazaryan, senior legal fellow at The Future of Free Speech state "While concerns about pornography, including moral and religious ones, are part of any healthy public debate, this bill does something far more dangerous: It empowers the federal government to police speech based on subjective values. When lawmakers try to enforce the beliefs of some Americans at the expense of others’ rights, they cross a constitutional line — and put the First Amendment at risk."  the opinion article can be found and read in full here https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/mike-lee-obscenity-bill-free-speech-project-2025-rcna206388  

In an article the Telegraph states "The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which some see as a blueprint for Donald Trump’s policies, describes those who share and create pornographic content as “child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women” who sell a product “as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime”." (Telegraph, May 14, 2025) 

I allege Mr. Lee is the one who has an addiction to social media 'street cred' in order to appeal to Trump and prove his loyalty to authoritarianism.  (IODA) is another attempt by Mr. Lee to enact his and the Heritage Foundation's fascist agenda.  In years past Lee has been wholly ineffective in his seat as a US Senator, he has passed no legislation in the Senate during his tenure.  However,  we currently have no political will to defend the constitution in the majority led Republican Senate.  (IODA) legislation seeks to undermine decades of constitutional precedent regarding free speech.

Write or call Mike Lee, Senator John Curtis and Celeste Maloy, Burgess Owens, Mike Kennedy and Blake Moore and tell them what you think: Congressional Hotline (202) 224-3121 and look at earlier updates to this petition for contact information for all the Utah representatives or search online by name directly email them.

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