SB-20 May Have Wider Impact Than Some Realize

 What About Misinterpretation?

An Astro Boy fan sits at the PonyTown docks, eating a slice of cheesecake.

    A new law set to go into effect on September 1st, 2025, SB-20, is intended to help protect minors online by banning fictional content, whether AI or created by artists (i.e. animation, comics, art) within the state of Texas. On the surface, this is a good idea that has good intentions- after all, encountering explicit imagery online involving underage characters can be a bit mentally damaging for internet users who are minors. So the effort is understandable. However, the impact seems as if it may be much wider than simply protecting people who are under eighteen years of age online. This law also holds possible negative impact for content creators who have created works that feature underage characters in a myriad of other, non-sexual ways because the language in the law's document does not strongly define what constitutes an offense within this context. In fact, the character featured above in the cosplay, Astro Boy, could be an example of anime that may come under fire from this law. 

 

A manga book cover featuring Uran, Astro (Atom) and Cobalt busting out of a futuristic ship.

 

    Astro Boy, known in Japan as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu or Mighty Atom, is a science fiction manga series created in 1951 by Osamu Tezuka. The story is about a young character, Astro, dealing with introspection about self acceptance and what it means to be human while defending Earth and its inhabitants from larger-than-life threats, at the same time handling the massive task of establishing or maintaining positive relationships between humanity and the sentient machines that science has created. Dr. Tenma, a renowned roboticist, tragically loses his only child and attempts to fill the gap with the creation of a boy robot that boasts the most advanced artificial intelligence and weapons programming. He soon realizes, however, that Astro cannot actually replace his lost child and abandons him to a robot circus, from which Astro is later rescued by the kind-hearted Professor Ochanomizu, who also utilizes his own knowledge of robotics to provide Astro with a proper home and his own robot family. The main series itself is never out to directly place any characters in explicit situations and is known widely as a richly layered work that questions the very definitions of what it means to accept ourselves, what it means to be human and what it means to love and accept others without condition. However, as the reader might have noticed, the titular character, Astro, has a design that is usually mostly nude, with the exception of what looks like black underwear and red knee-high boots. His adopted brother, Cobalt, who has more elongated hair spikes, also features a similar design. In canon, at several points, Astro has either said or shown with his actions that he feels clothing restricts his movements in battles where he has to defend Earth from an enemy force, so he chooses to forego fabric and fashion completely. However, there may also be a more layered meaning to his lack of clothing that goes unmentioned canonically- rejecting clothing may also be symbolic of Astro accepting himself as he is. It may indicate that Astro does not desire to pass as completely human, that he is unafraid to show his robotic details like his joints or his chest-plate. But the canon reasoning and the layered meaning are likely to be ignored or passed over by someone scouring media for infringement of the upcoming law or completely missed if an AI is used for analysis in place of a human. 

 

Series like Ouran High School Host Club could also come under scrutiny.

 

    Design is also not the only concern when it comes to SB-20. There are also characters in anime who may canonically be eighteen years of age or older but look, sound and act like minors but whose appearances are not immediately prone to scrutiny for sexual content. For example, Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka from Ouran High School Host Club. The character, pictured in the above example, is not usually depicted without clothing, as is Astro Boy. This particular example could also pose a problem because the character was aged down for the animated series, while in the manga, he was eighteen years old. Ouran is the story of a girl, Haruhi Fujioka, who has just been accepted to the school of her choice based on her grades. On her first day, she accidentally breaks an expensive vase that her family is unable to pay for and in order to slowly pay for its replacement, she must masquerade as one of the boys in the school's host club, entertaining the wealthy girls who patronize them. One of the members of the club, "Honey", though one of the oldest members, plays the part of the group's 'child', supposedly because he was not permitted to genuinely be himself at home while growing up. He uses his time as a host to heal his inner child with sweets, plush toy companions, cartoons and acting 'cute', appealing to clients who might be more maternal or big sister-like. Honey is a character that would read to the uninitiated or an AI as a fictional child. The canon age given for him by the anime adaptation of the manga adds a problematic layer for the incoming new law though, because depending on the version, he is either a young adult seeking inner healing through hosting or an actual minor seeking healing for his younger years. In both versions of the series, there are moments where the character may have been put into situations that may be misunderstood, too. The first example to come to mind for many fans is likely the indoor water park episode, where Honey was depicted in swim trunks paired with an adorable innertube. The absence of a shirt in the case of that episode could, unfortunately, be enough to warrant enforcement of the new law because of how vague the definition is.

 

Rugrats was a very popular cartoon, featuring a cast of literal babies.

 

    The establishment of SB-20 also affects media outside the realm of anime that feature child or child-like characters. Childhood favorites like Rugrats or Ed, Edd 'N Eddy also feature moments that could come under scrutiny and face removal from streaming or from physical stores, as well as opening up the possibility that downloading or owning them could result in a fine or jail time for fans. Rugrats in particular, loved playing bits where Tommy or one of his friends might remove their clothing and diaper and run around for laughs. This was done because this is a common occurrence for people living with real babies and toddlers. Sometimes, the littles just wanna run around in their birthday suits because they feel it is freeing or maybe they find it funny and this was often depicted in Rugrats in a comedic light. In Ed, Edd 'N Eddy, sometimes, the characters would go shirtless because of the summer heat or somehow lose their clothes in a comedic twist. However, the nuance of comedy, especially with pieces of such shows being completely removed from their original context, might be lost on a censor scouring the media for offenses against the new law. 

 

What Are The Real World Implications?

 

Myself with my Scraps Stitched N' Sewn Lalaloopsy doll.

 

    A law like SB-20, which scrutinizes past media and forces the censorship of modern works has an impact that reaches beyond the television or computer screen as well. Something that not enough people may be processing at this point in time is what could possibly happen to fans of the affected media who are neurodivergent. Many psychological conditions are lifelong, such as Down Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorder, meaning that people are born with them and that these conditions do not disappear even in adulthood. Some of them commonly present with traits like prolonged hyperfixation, which is extensive interest and research into a favorite book, book series, video game, TV show, musician, music genre or other topic of interest. People with these diagnoses may also not be aware of content that may be sexualizing underage characters and may even run the risk of creating questionable content themselves by accident because of that. The writer of this post personally lives with the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, now called Autism, and has herself had experiences online in the past that were risky because she did not understand sexual meaning in one interaction or another. For the writer, something like Billy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy using Eris as a pony only immediately registers as innocent play used by the show's creators for laughs, for example. So if someone with Autism, Down Syndrome or ADHD or some combination of them saw that scene, thought it was funny and chose to create content based on it online in the hopes of sharing the laughs with others, that content piece could put them at risk under the new law because Billy is a minor in the show. 

 

The adults in the room knew exactly what Beetlejuice here was doing but I did not.

 

 

     SB-20 is definitely going to create a tough line to walk for neurodivergent consumption of existing and incoming media. The American judicial system often overlooks the nuances of context, emotion and intent surrounding events that transgress established laws in an effort to appear 'fair' to the public. In reality, however, this oversight actually flattens such occurrences to a black and white perception of the court cases and may even highlight willingness to turn a blind eye toward minorities. An argument in favor of that behavior could be that a 'this is good and this is evil' approach is likely to be more easily digested by readers, viewers and listeners but easy comprehension does not necessarily facilitate true understanding. It could be said also that this approach by our system has also caused issues in the past, in particular, cases like Morisette V. United States, in which Morisette was thrown in jail despite testifying to the lack of knowledge that the casings in question he sold to support his family belonged to the government, and Zenith Man, in which Alvin Ridley was wrongfully accused of ending his wife and the accusation was likely exacerbated by the public perception of his autistic behavior. Cases such as these should serve as countable proof that intention and context matter much more than the courts often seem to think. However, monochromatic thinking and sensationalism abound, especially in courtroom settings.

 

A beautiful print of My Little Pony's Princess Luna, created by TheArtcade.

 

 

    Since interpretation of actions, context, emotion and intent can be both misunderstood and overlooked by the courts, especially under a law like SB-20, it is important that all fans of media, especially those who are neurodivergent, take precautions to engage with their fandoms with extra care from now on. SB-20 will not only dictate the media presented to us for consumption by companies in the state of Texas. It can be extended to affect the content that Texan fans produce as well. The trouble with trying to take this extra precaution is that many neurodivergent people themselves struggle with reading social cues and meaning, so outside assistance or sources may be needed to help them determine what is acceptable content to share and create under this new law and what is unacceptable content. The most basic and straightforward advice in this case is to ask someone you trust if they think that the content could be misinterpreted or if the content contains any trace of sexualization of a character who is a minor. Not everyone who is neurodivergent has someone that they can go to for this, however. In which case, it might be helpful to instead do a quick online search for definitions of sexualizing fictional characters and compare the media that you are about to post with what you find. If you find that the media you were thinking about posting fits the criteria but you still feel the need to discuss it, consider keeping the discussion only to a very close friend in private or journaling about it. Alternatively, discussing the media and your thoughts on it with a therapist could be a good option as well. 

 

Tags and fandom spots will only help to a degree.

 

    Keeping thoughts on non-sexualized media that SB-20 may affect as private as you possibly can is likely the best approach for now. Posting content that may be accused of sexualizing an underage character to places like Tumblr, X, TikTok, etc. will be liable to cause trouble once SB-20 is enacted. In general, refrain from posting anything that might seem risky involving characters that are or appear to be underage. If posting a character that is of age but simply appears younger, make certain that you add the proper tags to the post, clearly indicating that the character is an adult older than eighteen years of age. Even then though, exercise caution because tags can also be misinterpreted or overlooked or in an even worse case, the tags may be considered to be lies by the person or AI that is judging them. Posting the content in a public fandom space online could possibly be a further line of defense, though possibly not the most reliable one, as other fans may or may not testify should anything you post come under examination by the courts under SB-20. It depends on their own personal experiences, their understanding of what you post and the core content of what was posted. Using an example from the author's life experiences and fandoms, this moment in particular would not be defendable even by the author herself. If you are uncertain that tags or other fans will be able to help protect your content from SB-20, the best course of action may just be simply to keep things private, as was already stated. Or, alternatively, you could age the characters in your media up to adults but tread that route with caution, as many fandoms are not as open to that as they once were.

 

"Helga's Shrine", a Hey, Arnold! fan art by meatgiri.

 

    Readers should know though that just because a law might mislabel something like a simple scene of a child character happily taking a bath with a squeaky duck or a teleportation spell going wrong and accidentally only transporting a character's shirt for comedic effect as grounds for applying SB-20 to media or fan-made content in no way means that the reader or content creator are in the wrong. It is not necessarily wrong to enjoy such media for what it is on a surface level. The new law may make it more difficult to post online about such instances in Texas and it may even make it more difficult for Texans to access shows, movies, games and books that depict such things. But enjoying a movie where one scene depicts something like a young character's day at the pool perhaps does not a criminal make. If the content does not feel sexual to you, then on a personal level, you are not at fault under SB-20 and how you process media on your own terms matters. You matter and because you matter, it will always be a good idea to practice safe precautions such as tagging, utilizing public spaces or opting to keep things to yourself when this new law goes into effect. If anything, actually, SB-20 may be a government attempt to control the types of media that are consumed, under the guise of protecting minors, though the author does consider the protection of minors to be a positive side effect. 

 

What Else Will Be Affected...?

 

A full set of Pokemon Adventures manga is being sold online.

 

    It will be repeated that SB-20 is a Texas law going into effect on September 1st, 2025 that will impact any and all media containing content which may be considered to show underage characters in explicit situations. What this means outside of the screens for companies and creators which produce media featuring young characters is that they may see a reduction in ratings or sales or even outright bans and legal charges for their works within the state of Texas. Stores may stop carrying certain manga series, movies, shows or video games, becoming the first and largest contributor to huge dips in sales within the state of Texas. Fans are likely to become too anxious to show their support and may refrain from buying or sharing things they are into, deepening the sales dips just mentioned and tanking ratings on streaming services. Those two things are probably the most obvious effects of such a law removing certain media and threatening those in possession of such media. If there is a third most obvious reaction, it is possibly that streaming services like Hulu and Netflix will region lock certain shows and movies, doing their part to contribute to a dip in ratings as well. This could spell a largely negative impact on the film, gaming, writing and animation industries globally. 

 

The author is still upset about this. #spoonsupforthedarkcrystal

 

    You see, when a piece of media's sales or ratings dip too much, it runs the risk of becoming prematurely canceled for everyone. That cancelation affects not just fans who will dearly miss the media in question but also the teams of creators who put hours, days, weeks, months or even years of effort into the projects in the hopes of getting their stories out there or at least generating income to support themselves. If ratings or sales or lacking, cancelation looms, the creative team is disbanded, the story is abruptly brought to an open end and no one makes the money they deserved for the art that was created. This is liable to happen to at least a handful of movies, books, games or shows in the wake of SB-20 in Texas and it could also in turn put a strain on economic relations between Texas and countries outside of the US whose cultural norms may be different from those in Texas and the wider US. Most especially because a disheartening truth is that some media cannot logically be altered to fit the requirements of the new law. Creators of widespread content may be able to omit certain scenes so that their content can still be shown in Texas but that is about all that they will be able to reasonably attempt to do. Recently, a good example of this is Bluey, a gentle, animated Australian series about a blue heeler girl named Bluey and her family. In the episode, Markets, there is a scene where Bluey and Indy are admiring a horse and considering paying for a pony ride. Just as Bluey comments on how beautiful the horse is, it lifts it's tail and... Well, you know. It defecates. At least, that's how the Australian version of the episode goes. In the USA, however, the defecation was completely and inexplicably edited out. Censored. Gone. Apparently, the US censors thought that was inappropriate to show to children, meanwhile, fart jokes are still rampant in children's media in America. For the continuity of the episode, the horse itself was unable to be completely omitted, so only the number two was edited out from the scene. In other media, sometimes entire scenes are deleted for similar censorship reasons. 

 

Sometimes, censorship seems like literal... You know.

 

    If a piece of media cannot be censored and subsequently shown in Texas, then not only does that run financial risks for the country of origin and the media's creators, it also presents an impact on cultural diversity. Under SB-20, Texas faces losing access to a wide array of media that features younger characters, which encompasses tons of coming-of-age stories, childhood comedy, important lessons on friendship and familial connections for people of all ages, empowering stories where young characters face and overcome fear or darkness in ways that help children prepare to deal both with real life and with horror stories, tales that may help teach growing audiences what real love should look like and media that affirms positive ways for people to view themselves and others. All of that is just the tip of that metaphorical iceberg as well, as there are also plenty of pieces of media featuring child or childlike characters but which focus on far deeper themes and narratives which may be put at risk of removal or cancelation from this new law. Similar types of censorship are also already taking effect outside of Texas, across the US. This year, fans have already seen this occur with Lilo & Stitch. In the original animated Disney film from 2002, while at hula rehearsal, Myrtle calls Lilo "crazy" for her interest in feeding Pudge, prompting Lilo to literally jump her in a fit of rage and self defense. In the recently released live action remake, Myrtle's comment is just gone and Lilo just inexplicably shoves her while they are performing their hula for their families. The loss of the scene in the remake actually deals a heavy blow to the start of Lilo's character development, emotionally disconnecting viewers from her almost as soon as the story starts, as well as immediately reframing or partly removing the original film's underlying messaging about the grieving process. So, though Lilo & Stitch was not completely removed from any country's viewing this year, Lilo's story regarding how she has been dealing with the grief from losing her parents has been.

 

In the animated version, Lilo had a clear and immediate reason for this strong emotional reaction.

 

    SB-20 may also likely create a divide between fans of media living in Texas and elsewhere, as other regions of the US and even other countries will be able to continue watching, playing or reading media that will be blocked in Texas under the new law. Texas based fans of franchises like Harry Potter or The Amazing Digital Circus may find that the second trial of the Triward Tournament has largely been removed from viewing or that several episodes have caused Circus to become banned entirely and invidividually owning copies of the deleted scenes or banned series could bring about fines or jail time for the fan(s) who have been found in possession of such things. Going forward, it looks like citizens in Texas are going to have to be careful about what media they consume and what media they create based on the media that they consume. There is hope in the future, however. Several large companies and creators seem like they will soon feel constrained by this new law and they may attempt to fight back. Whether or not they do though, fans of stylized media are still not without their own voices. You, dear reader, have a list of people that you can contact to get your voice on this matter heard and there are also several other options to be seen and heard as well besides that. If you feel that SB-20 is too limiting on what media can be created and consumed in Texas, you can organize or join protests across the state, you can create, share and sign petitions to be sent to the Texas government or you can draft a letter about it to several Texas officials. In fact, links and contact info will be provided below so that you can voice your opinion in ways that will matter. 

 

Contact Info:

Pat Fallon (Oversight and Government Reform)

Michael McCaul (Foreign Affairs) (Mention how this law could impact foreign relationships with Texas to ANY official on this list under Foreign Affairs.)

Ronny Jackson (Foregin Affairs) 

Pete Sessions (Oversight and Government Reform) 

Joaquin Castro (Foreign Affairs) 

Michael Cloud (Oversight and Government Reform) 

Jasmine Crockett (Oversight and Government Reform) 

Julie Johnson (Foreign Affairs) 

Greg Casar (Oversight and Government Reform) 

 

Alternatively, you can also contact the Senate and the House of Representatives to voice your opinion on this upcoming law. In the case of fictional media, the best advice here would be to contact (under the Senate) Business & Commerce, Administration, Economic Development, Education K-16, Local Government, (and under the House of Representatives) Culture/Recreation/Tourism and Public Education.

If speaking to a representative on the phone or via email seems difficult, you can also try signing and sharing this petition to have Governor Greg Abbott repeal SB-20.