Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to change Dr. Dipesh Navsaria’s title from “Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine” to a “professor of Pediatrics and Human Development and Family Studies.”
A bill moving through the Wisconsin State Assembly would require warning labels on certain commercially distributed material. Assembly Bill 961 passed the Assembly on a 61-34 bipartisan vote and has been referred to the Senate committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism.
The Assembly passed a substitute amendment to AB 961 that made several key changes, according to Representative Joy Goeben, R-Hobart, in an email statement. A “distributor” is anyone who provides, sells or publishes explicit content for profit or as part of a commercial service, if one-third or more of the material is explicit, according to the bill.
“Explicit content” refers to visual, written or auditory material intended for adults that lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value and depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, according to the bill.
The law’s vagueness could have unintended consequences for public health and education programs, Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, a professor of Pediatrics and Human Development and Family Studies, said in an email statement.
“On one hand, there is clearly content that children shouldn’t be seeing, and we’d like to protect them from such content,” Navsaria said in an email statement. “On the other hand, there is information that may be beneficial to a minor to be able to access and may actually be important for their health and safety.”
Navsaria said determining what counts as explicit can be highly subjective. “Patently offensive” and “lacks serious scientific value” may mean different things to different people.
Educational materials, including guidance on proper condom use, could be interpreted as inappropriate by some, even if they serve a public health purpose, according to Navsaria’s statement. Since the law targets distributors, organizations such as libraries, schools and health agencies might self-censor to avoid potential violations.
The legislation also does not differentiate between ages, which makes enforcement particularly challenging, according to Navsaria’s statement.
“Not all children are the same,” Navsaria said in the email. “Something that is likely not appropriate for a 5-year-old may be very appropriate for a 17-year-old.”
Rowan Childs of the Madison Reading Project said the bill could limit reading access across the state.
If regulations impede on businesses’ ability to sell books, some may close or relocate — reducing access for Wisconsin residents, Childs said in an email statement. Independent bookstores and distribution programs could be particularly affected, according to Childs.
Independent bookstores often run on tight budgets with limited staff, so potential fines and unclear rules regarding what’s considered appropriate or offensive could create serious financial and operational challenges, according to Childs’ statement. Access to diverse and representative literature is crucial, as they provide children with stories that reflect themselves, their friends and their families, Childs said.
“Access to children’s books is very different from access to adult websites or social media, and this legislation blurs those lines,” Childs said in an email.
The Wisconsin Library Association opposes AB 961, even after amendments narrowed the bill, according to WLA.
Libraries already help families navigate age-appropriate materials, and state-mandated warning labels could create confusion for families while discouraging access to lawful books, according to the statement. Parents, educators and communities are better equipped to guide youth’s media and literature consumption than state-mandated labeling systems, according to the statement.
“Protecting children is important,” Navsaria said. “It’s challenging, messy and confusing to figure out how to do that in policy that protects the freedom of access to information while affording such protection reasonably.”
