Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who is essentially neck-and-neck with challenger Evan McMullin, is dealing with a tough re-election fight but is still putting in the sweat equity and doing actual legislative work. Lee recently introduced the Preventing Rampant Online Technological Exploitation and Criminal Trafficking Act of 2022, or PROTECT Act, which tackles the ever-growing and increasingly filthy realm of online porn.
Many people may be under the impression that the actors they see on their screens are doing things to which they have legally consented. All too often, that is not the case. Many people appearing on porn sites may be minors or victims of human trafficking or manipulation, or may even be unaware that images or videos of them have been posted without their consent. Images and videos may have been stolen, reposted as revenge porn, or simply created without the victim’s knowledge.
While these things are already illegal, there are currently not enough sanctions or rules to enforce those laws and keep people safe or help them put their lives back together after being victimized. The PROTECT Act attempts to change that. The act would force porn sites to verify the age of the participants and have them complete a consent form before content can be uploaded. Furthermore, sites would have to remove any images that were uploaded without the participants’ consent as soon as they are notified of the problem. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to $10,000 per day per image, starting 24 hours after being notified of a violation, with the possibility of up to five years in the pen.
Lee met with survivors of these crimes and mentioned their statements in a press release:
Katelynn Spencer: “When I found out there have been two sexual videos of me posted on Pornhub and other pornography websites for the past 12 years, not once did I feel protected by the law. There are no laws in my state to protect survivors of image-based sexual abuse, but if this bill was and is put in place, it could help so many survivors like me.”
Uldouz Wallace: “Technology is updating everyday but the laws haven’t changed. We need the Protect Act because it will protect the future of our children, women, men and ensure that the internet is a safer environment.”
Victoria Galy: “Online criminal enterprises have been allowed to flourish unregulated for over a decade. Technology has surpassed the reach of our current laws. The internet and technology have become weapons in digital violence. We desperately need a federal law to protect victims against online image-based sexual abuse including edited and deepfake content. The Protect Act would provide this protection. Similar laws have already been passed in other countries and the U.S. is falling behind.”
The internet is, of course, forever, and these and other victims will likely never have the closure they deserve. However, the PROTECT Act creates forward momentum and can help prevent more people, especially women and children, from becoming victims.
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Meanwhile, the imbroglio over Club for Growth’s ad about McMullin and McMullin’s tantrum and lawsuit is fairly recent. Some of the local Twitterati are having fun at McMullin’s expense, musing that his lawsuit against Utah TV stations is motivated by the need to pay off the bills from his last campaign, and it has been a tight race for a while.
But while McMullin may have been dodging dunning calls and ignoring red envelopes, incumbent Mike Lee has been busy doing actual work. That isn’t to say that he hasn’t been stumping around the Beehive State; he can’t afford not to, with McMullin breathing down his back. Some of that may be due to the influx of people to the state, who despite having escaped the festering Gehenna that California has become, still can’t make the connection that they voted for all of that madness. And Utah has always had a vocal left wing that has felt persecuted and is now emboldened by the ascension of the Biden administration. A quick trip through Provo is enough to tell you that. Not to mention Utah’s media, even those outlets owned by the LDS church, is listing somewhat to the left these days while still struggling to appear neutral.
So Lee has been a target as far back as the Utah GOP convention this spring, when two arguably progressive candidates ran for the Senate nomination, aided by left-wingers who wormed their way into positions as delegates. The pressure has been on for a while, and the election is likely to be a photo finish. But even so, Lee has still found time to do the people’s business.
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