Bill > S0919

This bill, titled the "Protection of Minors from Pornography and Obscenities Act," aims to strengthen existing South Carolina laws against obscenity and material harmful to minors by clarifying definitions and limiting defenses. Specifically, it amends the definition of "harmful to minors" and "material" to explicitly include any portion of materials or performances that may be considered obscene, meaning that even if only part of a work contains such content, it can still be deemed harmful. The bill also defines "profane language" as language or gestures that depict or describe sexual or excretory organs or activities in a way that is considered offensive by contemporary community standards. Furthermore, it restricts the affirmative defense for disseminating harmful material to minors, previously available to certain organizations, to only apply when such material is used for the age-appropriate teaching of sex education or human biology, requiring parental consent and excluding school libraries.