President Donald Trump has nominated Adam Candeub to head the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, signaling a renewed focus on antitrust enforcement against major technology companies. Candeub, who currently serves as general counsel for the Federal Communications Commission, has expressed support for criminalizing pornography to protect marriage and promote human flourishing. He advocates emulating earlier generations that took "measures to curb access to [sexual material] so that sexual desire could be channeled more easily into marriage."

Candeub has criticized 20th-century judges who "imagined they had a moral duty to protect James Joyce's Ulysses," indicating his intent to pursue broader obscenity regulation. In a chapter of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, he suggests factoring in social media's effect on users' happiness when evaluating potential antitrust violations by these platforms.

Historically, New York's 1866 Obscene Literature Act criminalized the distribution of "obscene and indecent" materials, applying the Hicklin standard which judged obscenity based on whether content could "deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences." Candeub's approach appears to revive such speech restrictions aimed at furthering public morality.

Efforts to regulate online content on grounds of stopping pornography or sexual exploitation have often served as precedents for broader restrictions on online speech and privacy. Additionally, legislative packages including the NO FAKES Act, targeting AI deepfakes, and the Apps Store Accountability Act, requiring parental consent for minors downloading apps, are reportedly under consideration.

For context, a 1968 Nielsen report noted that children under six were watching an average of 54 hours of television weekly, challenging nostalgic views of past media consumption.

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