Indecency and Obscenity in Broadcast medium.
The first amendment of the United States Constitution reads the following:.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The freedom of speech is detailed in the first amendment. Since the inception of radio and television broadcasting, there has been a continuous struggle between the government and broadcasters. That struggle involves the right of free speech and the right of the government to censor material that is indecent or obscene. Who regulates and decides what is indecent or obscene? These questions have evolved through many important cases over the last century. Today the Miller test, derived from Miller v. California, is used to decide the material in question.
It is first important to know what it means for material to be obscene and what it means for material to be indecent. They are not the same thing, and obscenity is considered a more serious offense. The modern definition of "obscenity" is material that is legally obscene and is not protected under the First Amendment. Obscene material is also known as hard-core pornography . The modern definition of "Indecent material reads; Material that may be sexually graphic but is protected by the first amendment. Indecent Material is also referred to as adult material or sexually explicit material. Many laws ban the sale or distribution of indecent material to minors. Such material may, however, be freely distributed among adults1. .
For over 80 years the United States used the Comstock Act of 1874 as the law standard, which defined obscenity. The act was named after a crusader of obscenity by the name of Anthony Comstock. The act defined work was obscene if "it has a tendency to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences and whose hands it might fall"1.
