New Court Ruling May Make Child Pornography More Likely to Be Produced

Amanda Casanova | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Updated: Aug 27, 2018
New Court Ruling May Make Child Pornography More Likely to Be Produced

New Court Ruling May Make Child Pornography More Likely to Be Produced

A federal court ruling has reversed rules that regulate the pornography industry. 

The change, which was ruled on in early August, alters U.S. Code Title 18 section 2257 that says producers in the pornography industry must keep records of the age of actors. The law also said that government officials could review those records at any time. 

Gail Dines, author of Pornland: How Pornography Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, and University of Massachusetts-Boston professor David L. Levy, said the changes are “the only way to verify and track performers' ages and serves as a major incentive for businesses across the complex supply chain to monitor content."

Judge Michael Baylson of the U.S. 3rd Circuit of Appeals ruled that many of the section’s requirements were unconstitutional. Under the new law, porn producers will use an age verification form.

"A lot of the lawyers that I've spoken to did say it's pretty much a rabbit hole of law. So it might be better for us to think of another way to try and prevent children from being used in pornography," Dines said.

"We've got to act quickly because I don't trust them to not be uploading images of children," she said.

In previous years, the federal government has strongly enforced the section 2257 law. In 2006, the company behind the “Girls Gone Wild” series was fined $2.1 million for violations.

The Free Speech Coalition, a lobbying firm for the adult film industry, has filed a number of lawsuits in support of the business, including some that claim that oversight on the industry is illegal.

Photo courtesy: Pexels/CQF-Avocat



New Court Ruling May Make Child Pornography More Likely to Be Produced