One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation. ~ Thomas B. Reed
Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it. ~ Robert Heinlein
Just as it’s tempting for a person or group to label any speech they hate as ‘hate speech”, politicians seem unable to resist the allure of dubbing anything sex-related “human trafficking”. A newly offered censorship bill, Virginia House Bill 1592, would lock all pornographic sites from your phones and computers, and the only way to unlock them would be to pay the state $20.
The bill, proposed by Delegate Dave LaRock, is also known as The Human Trafficking Prevention Act.
Lawmakers who proposed the bill said that by making pornography less accessible on the internet it will reduce the amount of human trafficking.
These same lawmakers are unconcerned that there has never been one single peer-reviewed study that demonstrates any causal effect between viewing porn and crimes such as trafficking or rape.
While this state bill is obviously a blatant attempt to regulate the internet, here is the proponents’ laughable defense:
“The internet is not being regulated,” says Chris Sevier a former JAG who helped write HB 1592. “It’s the products that distribute the internet that are being regulated, and that’s the difference with the distinction.”
LOL! No, speech is an abstract; one can never block online “speech”, one can only require blocking on the means to transmit or receive it.
In support of the bill is bloated ex-porn performer Angela Aspen, now using her real name Jessica Neely and working with the Mormon-funded “Porn is the New Drug” anti-porn campaign.
When she was 23 years old, Neely says she was violently raped.
“With that PTSD reaction, I spiraled into the pornography industry,” she said.
It was a world she worked in for years.
“I went to Hollywood and nothing in amateur pornography prepared me for the monster Hollywood is,” says Neely. “It is human trafficking. It’s a mental kidnapping.”
Umm, no, it was your choice as an adult. Just as leaving was your choice. At 23 you’re not a child. You voluntarily accepted work in porn, and you booked yourself as an escort in the Los Angeles area for a long time. Your story does not in any way fit the definition of human trafficking. And there’s no such crime as mental kidnapping.
NBC12 – WWBT – Richmond, VA News On Your Side
One moron who supports the bill said:
“If people want to view pornography that’s their prerogative but by having it free it makes it too tempting for other people on the web to have access that can be influenced in a negative way,” said Foss.
However, others recognize House Bill 1592 as an infringement on their rights.
“I think that’s a freedom we all have as Americans,” said Grace Owens. “I just don’t see the relevance at all.”
Others say it’s like the state is punishing you for looking at something perfectly legal that some find offensive.
“It’s like a sin tax, getting cigarettes or alcohol or anything else,” said Charles Plant.
When or even if House Bill 1592 will be voted on has yet to be determined.
2 Responses
Never underestimate the stupidity of the Republican Bible Belt Redneck.