Lots of reforms are happening right now, individually, in each of the US states, from Oklahoma to New York. Now, Texas is also about to receive a shakeup but this time, it’s about a bill that seeks to incriminate anyone who watches children getting sexualized in anime. The Texas bill was also recently and unanimously agreed to and is currently well on its way to being enacted into law.
The bill in question is Senate Bill 20, which is to be an amendment to Chapter 43 of Texas’ penal code. Senate Bill 20 is primarily aimed at combating the creation and distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), which includes AI-generated child p*rnography. However, due to the bill’s general classifications, anime and manga could very well get included in the sweep.
A specific wording in the bill states the following:
“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,” transcription courtesy of Anime Galaxy Official.
It just so happens that anime has no shortage of depicting characters that look underaged in rather sexualized or fan-service acts. Still, many anime could dance around such classifications, especially with their odd age portrayals. Regardless, the bill could lead to the incrimination of anyone who watches or owns anime or manga that includes such characters.
It’s also worth noting that some of the most popular anime right now, such as Chainsaw Man, Dandadan, My Hero Academia, My Dress-Up Darling, etc., actually have scenes that do sexualize underage characters (as per US classifications).
Genshin Impact and other HoYoverse games could also get potentially entangled in the bill’s list of offenses. At its current trajectory, Senate Bill 20 is on track to take effect on September 1, 2025, and if passed into law, it could warrant a third-degree felony or even a second-degree felony.
Anime Fans Clap Back at Texas Lawmakers
Some anime fans and Redditors were quick to point out Texas’ rather confused laws because Senate Bill 20 seeks to eliminate child p*rnography in the state, but still allows grown men to marry children or anyone aged below 18. “Yet they will allow grown men to marry children” is one of the more interesting reactions to Texas’ Senate Bill 20.
In fact, Texas ranks the highest among all US states which allowed the most child marriages between the years 2000 to 2018. An estimated 41,774 child marriages took place in Texas, with some of the children being as young as 12 years old. Of the nearly 42,000 minors who were involved in Texas’ child marriage, 77 percent were girls wed to adult men.
However, it appears there is another bill, called House Bill 168 or HB168 has been drafted and introduced just this year and it seeks to end all marriages before 18 years of age. The bill is being spearheaded by Texas Representative Jon Rosenthal and is currently pending in the legislature. So overall, it seems Texas is tightening its laws around the protection of children, particularly when it comes to abuse.
