A new bill in the Texas Senate, should it get signed into law, could lead to the criminalization of some fan favorite anime and manga releases in the region. Senate Bill 20, as overseen by Senator Pete Flores, is a new bill meant to combat the rise of sexual content featuring minors and all material “relating to the creation of the criminal offense of possession or promotion of obscene visual material appearing to depict a child.” This was written to combat the rise of artificial intelligence used to create such materials, but anime and manga fans should take note of some of the wording.
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As detailed by Dexerto in a recent report, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has announced that the unanimous passing of Senate Bill 20, Stopping Artificial Intelligence (AI) Generated Child Pornography, by Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton. If signed into law, this would create a new felony offense for possessing or promoting material depicting a child under 18 years old “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.”
What Does This Mean for Anime?
The broad scope of the description here should be something of note to anime and manga fans as the “cartoon or animation” has a rather open description for what could fall under this new bill. As it describes, “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.”
Unfortunately for many anime and manga projects, series often depict adolescent or characters younger than 18 in what could be seen as “obscene” situations. It’s likely going to be a case by case basis as this potential bill (or law) develops in the future, but this could lead to a much larger ban of materials in the state due to some content. Just think of breakout hits like Kill la Kill, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, and other series that wear their obscenity on their sleeves.
There’s a chance that these franchises won’t be labeled as obscene as these materials will be viewed under a qualifier of “taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.” It’s such a broad qualifier that any series could either fit or not fit those parameters, and that will ultimately be on a case by case basis if this bill goes into law.
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