Sponsors (29)
The bill simplifies and clarifies statute language to make enforcement and expressive boundaries clearer, but in doing so narrows protections for certain content and leans on Section 230 frameworks in ways that could reduce intermediary liability and increase legal uncertainty for enforcement and affected parties.
Publishers, speakers, and content creators face clearer criminal-prohibition language, reducing uncertainty about what expressive materials are illegal to import or distribute.
Customs, postal, and enforcement authorities will have simpler statutory text (fewer cross-references/outdated phrases), which may streamline compliance and enforcement processes.
Consumers and communities (including women) could see reduced protections because removing or narrowing the term 'indecent' may allow broader distribution of sexually explicit or offensive material.
Individuals, platforms, and taxpayers may face greater legal uncertainty and enforcement gaps because the bill redirects language to terse phrases and links criminal-import/carriage rules to section 230, potentially shifting liability away from intermediaries and inviting litigation over scope.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Tina Smith · Last progress March 11, 2025
Amends several federal criminal and import statutes to change language about obscene and indecent materials, removing references to “indecent” and substituting or deleting specific phrases in existing provisions. The changes are limited to textual replacements and deletions in Title 18 (criminal code) and the Tariff Act; the bill does not specify new penalties, funding, agencies, or effective dates.