The Texas Senate has unanimously passed a bill that, if enacted into law, could potentially criminalize the possession of anime, manga, and video games featuring characters appearing to be minors in “obscene” situations.
Senate Bill 20, aimed at combating the creation and distribution of CSAM, includes depictions in “cartoon or animation” within its definition of prohibited visual material.
Senate Bill 20 is set to take effect on Sep 1, 2025, provided it is passed by the Texas House of Representatives and signed into law.
The bill, which seeks to amend Chapter 43 of the Texas Penal Code by adding Section 43.235, defines an offense as knowingly possessing, accessing with intent to view, or promoting 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)“. The activities described by Section 43.21(a)(1)(B) refer to depictions of s*xual conduct.
The legislation explicitly states that this applies “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.”
According to the bill, an offense under this section is a state jail felony, with penalties escalating to a third-degree felony for one prior conviction and a second-degree felony for two or more prior convictions for similar offenses.
This broad definition has raised concerns within the anime, manga, and gaming communities, as many popular series feature characters who are depicted as being under the age of 18.
Depending on how Texas lawmakers interpret the term “obscene” in relation to these fictional depictions, a wide range of content could potentially fall under the purview of this law. The definition of “obscene material” in Texas law includes material that, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.
This subjective criterion leaves room for interpretation regarding whether certain anime, manga, or game content featuring underage characters in suggestive or sexualized scenarios could be deemed illegal to possess.
Several popular anime and manga series have been known to portray minor characters in ways that could be interpreted as sexualized, such as Kill la Kill, Monogatari or a whole host of ecchi anime. It might even be illegal to purchase merchandise of such minor character (think Marin Kitagawa from My Dress-up Darling) if the bill eventually becomes a law.
The unanimous passage in the Senate suggests a strong bipartisan support for the bill’s intent to protect children, but the potential implications for consumers of Japanese animation and comics remain a significant point of concern and discussion.
Source: Texas Gov
People that can’t differentiate between fiction and reality should be lobotomized.
People that are attracted to children should be castrated.(fake or not)
Both of these statements are true.
I can think of several anime that this should happen to hsdxd for example, but I can also think of several anime that would most definitely be mistaken like black clover, my dressup darling, fire force.
The law will never be able to distinguish. You either have to protect people’s right to free expression, or you have certain types of art and media banned by the state. Choose one.
Prudes, prudes everywhere.
This is a strawman argument to defend child p*rn. Pathetic. Normal anime will NOT be affected. Stick with the facts and stop scaring people to defend abhorrent behavior.
False. This is not about child p*** and that should DEFINITELY be illegal. This is about how interpretation of art and how characters portrayed as minors in ways that COULD be INTERPRETED as sexualized. Series like My Dress Up Darling are not child p*** and anyone that thinks so should get their head checked. This issue is about lawmakers interpreting art and how that can easily get out of hand with out very precise definitions of “obscene situations”. No one here is talking about hentai with minor characters or anything remotely like that. Kindly reread the article.
I bet you watch a whole lot of hentai. You know what they are talking about.
I’m a bit confused about the ban. Can someone explain it to me?
Possession of content depicting a character visually younger than 18 engaged in lascivious behavior means you go to jail.
Looks like Pokemon to be possibly be banned now too.
It seems like America is no longer a land of freedom