Project 2025 and the Push to Ban Porn: A Repeat of History?
In recent years, the conservative movement in the U.S. has intensified its fight against pornography, with Project 2025 emerging as a blueprint for a potential future crackdown. While its supporters frame it as a necessary step to “restore morality” and “protect children,” its proposed policies bear a striking resemblance to historical efforts to censor and control sexual expression.
From the Comstock Laws of the 19th century to modern authoritarian internet censorship, governments have repeatedly tried to suppress pornography. The ideas circulating around Project 2025, including a possible national registry for people involved in pornography, represent a return to these restrictive measures. But what exactly is being proposed, and what are the potential consequences?
Historical Attempts to Ban Pornography
Pornography has faced bans and severe restrictions multiple times throughout history, often justified on moral, religious, or social grounds. Here’s how previous attempts played out:
1. The Comstock Laws (1873)
One of the earliest and most notorious anti-pornography laws in the U.S., the Comstock Act of 1873, made it illegal to distribute “obscene” materials, including pornography, contraception, and sexual education literature. Spearheaded by Anthony Comstock, a devout moral crusader, this law led to the prosecution and imprisonment of many individuals simply for publishing or distributing sexual content.
2. The Obscene Publications Act (1857 – UK)
Similar to the Comstock Laws, Britain passed the Obscene Publications Act in 1857, which criminalized the distribution of “obscene” materials. This law was used to suppress literature and art that explored sexuality, reinforcing strict Victorian moral standards.
3. Nazi and Soviet Crackdowns
Under Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, pornography was banned as “degenerate” and a threat to national discipline. Both regimes saw sexual liberation as a challenge to state authority and worked to erase any form of erotic expression from public life.
4. Hollywood Censorship (Hays Code – 1930s)
The Hays Code, enforced in the 1930s, placed strict moral guidelines on films, banning explicit sexual content. This was part of a broader effort to suppress any form of media that was deemed “immoral.”
5. Modern-Day Internet Bans
In the digital era, governments like China, Russia, and India have cracked down on online pornography through national firewalls and strict censorship laws, often citing moral concerns and national security risks.
How Project 2025 Mirrors These Efforts
Project 2025, developed by The Heritage Foundation, is a comprehensive conservative blueprint for reshaping the U.S. government under a Republican administration. While it touches on various policy areas, its stance on pornography aligns with past moral crusades, advocating for stronger regulation and, in some cases, outright bans.
1. Legal and Regulatory Approaches
• Proposals include reviving obscenity laws to make producing and distributing pornography illegal.
• Some states have already passed age verification laws for adult websites, potentially creating a government-run system that tracks users.
• Further restrictions could be imposed on companies that host or profit from adult content.
2. The Push for a Pornography Registry
One of the most controversial proposals discussed by conservatives aligned with Project 2025 is a national registry for people involved in pornography, similar to sex offender registries. Here’s how it could work:
How a Pornography Registry Might Function
• Government Tracking of Adult Industry Workers:
• Porn actors, producers, and distributors could be required to register with the government, making their identities publicly available.
• This would make it nearly impossible for them to find employment in other fields, much like a blacklist system.
• Criminalization of Participation
• Some proposals have suggested classifying pornography as a form of human trafficking, which could criminalize adult industry work, even when consensual.
• Retroactive application could mean that even past involvement in adult content could lead to legal consequences.
• Tracking of Porn Consumers
• With digital monitoring, individuals who consume adult content could also be flagged in government databases.
• Age verification laws could be used as a tool to collect information on users, leading to de facto surveillance of private internet habits.
Why This is Dangerous
A national pornography registry and other harsh anti-porn measures would set a dangerous precedent for government overreach into private lives. Here’s what’s at stake:
1. Mass Surveillance and Loss of Privacy
• Tracking pornography consumers would normalize government monitoring of internet behavior, opening the door for broader digital surveillance.
• ISPs and tech companies could be forced to collect and report user data, similar to China’s internet controls.
2. Criminalization of Consensual Work
• Treating porn actors and content creators as criminals would unfairly punish people who willingly work in the industry.
• This could also lead to the prosecution of OnlyFans creators, cam models, and independent adult content producers.
3. A Chilling Effect on Free Speech
• Banning adult content would set a precedent for broader internet censorship, affecting LGBTQ+ content, sex education, and erotic literature.
• History has shown that anti-porn laws often extend beyond pornography, targeting anything considered “immoral” by the government.
4. Weaponizing Morality for Political Control
• Authoritarian regimes have long used moral panic around sexuality to justify censorship.
• If pornography can be banned, what’s next? Books, films, or websites that discuss sex, gender, or LGBTQ+ rights?
A Return to the Past, or a Step Toward an Authoritarian Future?
The ideas within Project 2025 and the push for a pornography ban and registry are not new—they are recycled from past censorship campaigns that sought to control morality and suppress sexual expression. If these measures move forward, they could reshape the digital landscape in ways that go beyond pornography, eroding internet freedom and personal privacy.
While many details of Project 2025 are still speculative, its alignment with past moral crackdowns suggests a clear direction: a future where the government, not individuals, decides what is acceptable to watch, create, and consume.
What Happens Next?
• Will pornography bans and registries become reality? That depends on political shifts in the coming years.
• Could these laws be challenged? Likely, as they would face strong opposition on First Amendment grounds.
• Should people be concerned? Absolutely. Even if you don’t consume or create adult content, the broader implications for privacy, censorship, and government control are alarming.
History shows that when governments start banning one form of speech, others follow. Whether you support pornography or not, the precedents set by these policies could impact everyone.
