New Texas Bill Could Criminalize Anime and Games
A Texas bill unanimously approved by state senators could become a law criminalizing the possession of any material depicting minors in an “obscene” manner.
New Texas Bill Could Criminalize Anime and Games
Although Senate Bill 20 mainly targets AI-generated content, it explicitly mentions “cartoon or animation,” raising concerns about its impact on popular anime, manga, and games.
Many of these works portray high-school-aged characters, and any depiction deemed “obscene” under Texas law could result in a felony offense.
Senate Bill 20 and Its Potential Impact
The bill seeks to amend Chapter 43 of the Texas Penal Code, stating: “A person commits an offense if the person knowingly possesses, accesses with intent to view, or promotes obscene visual material containing a depiction that appears to be of a child younger than 18 years of age engaging in activities described by Section 43.21(a)(1)(B), regardless of whether the depiction is an image of an actual child, a cartoon or animation, or an image created using an artificial intelligence application or other computer software.”
However, what qualifies as “obscene” is open to interpretation and includes the phrase: “[Material or a performance that] taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.”
This ambiguity raises concerns for game series like Persona, which feature underage characters in romantic scenarios. Depending on the interpretation, owning such games could be a felony in Texas.
The same applies to popular anime like Kill la Kill, Gurren Lagann, Monogatari, and Bleach, known for depicting minors in potentially sexualized contexts. Even works like Monogatari, portraying ancient vampires in youthful bodies, could face scrutiny.
It’s important to note that while the bill was unanimously approved by the state Senate, it must still clear further hurdles before becoming law.
via Dexerto
