Drawing the Line
The “Drawing the Line Between Personal Expression and Lived Abuse” program is directed towards a simple and growing problem: that politicians and policymakers are intentionally blurring the lines between fictional and non-fictional sex crimes. This is done at the expense of real survivors who see their experiences fictionalized, creative workers who are at risk of being unfairly targeted, and consumers who are left with superficial solutions to complex issues in media representation. These trends are fueled by moral panics, technological misunderstandings, and political pressures that exploit public fears, often at the expense of evidence-based policy and survivor-centered justice.
Activities
- Statement of principles, a set of agreed principles developed by our advisory board to guide the project.
- Legal research report, an international legal review providing a comparative analysis across ten countries to assess the compatibility of these legal regimes with human rights standards.
- Amicus curiae brief, a legal brief in a Wisconsin lawsuit that considers whether the government can criminalize the simple possession of material deemed obscene.
- More coming soon
Advisory Board
- Aurélie Petit, a PhD Candidate in the Film Studies department at Concordia University, Montréal, and Guest Editor for the Porn Studies journal Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence, Pornography, and Sex Work.
- Emma Shapiro, Independent expert, and Editor-At-Large of Don’t Delete Art , a project advocating for artists facing censorship online.
- Ira Ellman, Distinguished Affiliated Scholar, Center for the Study of Law and Society, University of California, Berkeley and Charles J. Merriam Distinguished Professor of Law and Affiliate Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Arizona State University.
- Masayuki Hatta, associate professor of Economics and Management at Surugadai University, Japan and visiting researcher at the Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM), International University of Japan.
- Michael McGrady Jr, Journalist in 1st Amendment, sex work, LGBTQ+ rights, ethics and compliance.
- Ashley Remminga, a graduate researcher in Global Cultures and Languages at the University of Tasmania exploring queer and, in particular, transgender and gender-diverse participation and engagement within popular culture and fandom.
- Zora Rush, a linguist, works on Responsible AI at Microsoft, where she develops assessment systems for harmful content generation in LLM products, including sexual content.
Donate
Support COSL’s Justice for Real Survivors campaign through a donation to our Legal Advocacy fundraiser. Every donation helps run and maintain projects that fall under this priority area.