A Modern Strategy to Combat Pornography

In keeping up with 2025’s Public Policy Conference theme, “Legacy of Freedom,” it would be beneficial to discuss the importance of freedom from addiction, especially related to pornography. The purpose of this essay is to assess the political feasibility of sweeping prohibitions on the access of pornography. To aid in the development of the essay, research was conducted which consisted of utilizing academic reports documenting the consequences of pornography on both its consumers and those featured in sexual scenes to set a background for the paper as well as survey data exploring public sentiment towards pornography and potential restrictions on its accessibility. Furthermore, historical reference was used to explain how certain political movements, even those initially unpopular, eventually won public support, which could provide insight into how to make even total pornography restrictions palatable to the American public. With these aspects accounted for, the essay concludes that despite the apparent present unpopularity of total prohibitions on pornography, the largely moderate attitudes on this matter as well as historical precedents like the successes of techniques used by leftists in the mid-20th century to successfully normalize radical ideas suggest that instituting complete pornography prohibitions is feasible and through utilization of political strategies used by progressives during the Cold War to shape the culture narrative, can win broad public support.