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February 6, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — A pro-family activist has outlined a plan to help ban porn on the internet.
Terry Schilling, executive director of the American Principles Project in Washington D.C., told The Jonathon Van Maren Show that not only do American parents want such a ban, but there’s an effective way to achieve it.
“Banning pornography is actually very popular with the American people,” Schilling told host Jonathon Van Maren, citing recent statistics from Gallup. “There's a lot of people who feel addicted to pornography…but they feel a sense of shame from looking at [it]. There's a natural sense that what they're doing is unnatural and wrong.”
Schilling wrote an article for First Things magazine in November of 2019 arguing that pornography should be classified as obscene speech. He also argued that the Republican Party has committed “political malpractice” by ignoring online pornography over the past couple of decades. In his essay, Schilling laid out three politically feasible steps that could be enacted right now to help restrict porn consumption.
One, internet service providers should pre-install filters that block out x-rated content. Two, pornographic websites need to strengthen their age and verification requirements. And three, tech companies that host pornographic sites should not be immune from legal action.
Schilling discussed each of these and other proposals with Van Maren, a Canadian pro-family, anti-porn activist. Schilling said that he is shocked when he sees libertarians act like the internet should be completely unregulated.
“They almost talk about it as if it's this loophole beyond all laws and all common decency when it's not. It's just another form of our culture. It's another form of our society. And it's online. And the same laws and rules should apply to the online world that apply to the physical world.”
Schilling believes there is a broad political coalition that can be stitched together to ban online porn. Of the many groups who would support such a measure, Schilling thinks old school feminists, left-wing Democrats, and socially conservative Republicans are natural allies.
“A large portion of feminists view pornography as exploiting women and taking advantage of them…you're actually almost as likely to find a liberal woman who supports banning online pornography entirely as you are a conservative male.”
A paultry nine percent of Americans believe no restrictions should be put on online porn, Schilling added. However, the number of Americans who think restricting porn online to 18 years of age or older is around 50-60%. “That's not counting the additional 30 percent of people who would support banning it entirely.”
Schilling told Van Maren that pro-family activists need to stay involved and put pressure on federal lawmakers by attending town hall meetings and calling their offices so they will enact common-sense regulations for online porn.
“We want to create a premier political organization for families, for parents who feel forgotten…we want to take advantage of this vast majority of Americans who are married” and are “struggling from progressive influences,” he said.
“Like everything else and like every other major fight we've had as a country, the success of our fight determines upon everyone else and whether or not we take action and get engaged in this,” he added.
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