{
  "batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
  "articles": [
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_s101",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-29-101: Distributing obscene materials or performances",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-29-101: selling, renting, leasing, advertising, publishing or exhibiting obscene material or an obscene performance knowing its obscene nature, or possessing it with intent to do so, is an offence.",
      "body": "Miss. Code 97-29-101: selling, renting, leasing, advertising, publishing or exhibiting obscene material or an obscene performance knowing its obscene nature, or possessing it with intent to do so, is an offence.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“any obscene material or obscene performance of any description knowing the obscene nature thereof, or offers to do so, or possesses such material with the intent to do so.”\n\nNote: HB 1119 (2020, introduced) adds social media; the quoted words are existing law.",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2020/html/HB/1100-1199/HB1119IN.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "any obscene material or obscene performance of any description knowing the obscene nature thereof, or offers to do so, or possesses such material with the intent to do so.",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 97-29-101",
      "topic": "Distributing obscene materials or performances",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "legal_fetch_over_cap",
          "deferred_state_uncorroborated:us-ms"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_s101w",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-29-101: Wholesale distribution",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] Distributing obscene material for resale (wholesale distributing) is a separate offence.",
      "body": "Distributing obscene material for resale (wholesale distributing) is a separate offence.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“A person commits the offense of wholesale distributing obscene materials or obscene performances when he distributes for the purpose of resale any obscene material or obscene performance of any description”\n\nNote: Existing text reproduced in a 2020 introduced bill.",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2020/html/HB/1100-1199/HB1119IN.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "A person commits the offense of wholesale distributing obscene materials or obscene performances when he distributes for the purpose of resale any obscene material or obscene performance of any description",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 97-29-101",
      "topic": "Wholesale distribution",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "legal_fetch_over_cap",
          "deferred_state_uncorroborated:us-ms"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_s101bond",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-29-101: Private complainant must post a $500 bond",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] A person other than a city attorney, county prosecuting attorney or district attorney who signs an affidavit charging obscenity must file a $500 bond conditioned that the affidavit was not frivolous or malicious.",
      "body": "A person other than a city attorney, county prosecuting attorney or district attorney who signs an affidavit charging obscenity must file a $500 bond conditioned that the affidavit was not frivolous or malicious.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“Any person, other than a city attorney, county prosecuting attorney or district attorney, who shall sign an affidavit charging an offense prescribed by this section shall file a bond in the amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00)”\n\nNote: Existing text reproduced in a 2020 introduced bill.",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2020/html/HB/1100-1199/HB1119IN.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "Any person, other than a city attorney, county prosecuting attorney or district attorney, who shall sign an affidavit charging an offense prescribed by this section shall file a bond in the amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00)",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 97-29-101",
      "topic": "Private complainant must post a $500 bond",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "legal_fetch_over_cap",
          "deferred_state_uncorroborated:us-ms"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_s103",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-29-103: Legal test for obscenity",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-29-103(1): obscene means appealing to the prurient interest by contemporary community standards, lacking serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value, and depicting specified sexual conduct in a patently offensive way.",
      "body": "Miss. Code 97-29-103(1): obscene means appealing to the prurient interest by contemporary community standards, lacking serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value, and depicting specified sexual conduct in a patently offensive way.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“Material or performance is obscene if: (a) To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, taken as a whole, it appeals to the prurient interest, that is, a lustful, erotic, shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex or excretion; and (b) The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value; and (c) The material depicts or describes in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined in subparagraphs (i) through (v) below: (i) Acts of sexual intercourse, heterosexual or homosexual, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; (ii) Acts of masturbation; (iii) Acts involving excretory functions or lewd exhibition of the genitals; (iv) Acts of bestiality or the fondling of sex organs of animals; or (v) Sexual acts of flagellation, torture or other violence indicating a sadomasochistic sexual relationship.”\n\nNote: Existing text reproduced in a 2020 introduced bill.",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2020/html/HB/1100-1199/HB1119IN.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "Material or performance is obscene if: (a) To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, taken as a whole, it appeals to the prurient interest, that is, a lustful, erotic, shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex or excretion; and (b) The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value; and (c) The material depicts or describes in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined in subparagraphs (i) through (v) below: (i) Acts of sexual intercourse, heterosexual or homosexual, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; (ii) Acts of masturbation; (iii) Acts involving excretory functions or lewd exhibition of the genitals; (iv) Acts of bestiality or the fondling of sex organs of animals; or (v) Sexual acts of flagellation, torture or other violence indicating a sadomasochistic sexual relationship.",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 97-29-103",
      "topic": "Legal test for obscenity",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "legal_fetch_over_cap",
          "deferred_state_uncorroborated:us-ms"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_s103x",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-29-103: Undeveloped film and plates count as obscene material",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] Undeveloped photographs, molds and printing plates are deemed obscene material even if processing is required to make the obscenity patent.",
      "body": "Undeveloped photographs, molds and printing plates are deemed obscene material even if processing is required to make the obscenity patent.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“Undeveloped photographs, molds, printing plates and the like shall be deemed obscene material”\n\nNote: Existing text reproduced in a 2020 introduced bill.",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2020/html/HB/1100-1199/HB1119IN.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "Undeveloped photographs, molds, printing plates and the like shall be deemed obscene material",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 97-29-103",
      "topic": "Undeveloped film and plates count as obscene material",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "legal_fetch_over_cap",
          "deferred_state_uncorroborated:us-ms"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_s527",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-5-27: Dissemination of sexually oriented material to minors",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-5-27(1): knowingly disseminating sexually oriented material to anyone under 18 is a misdemeanor with a fine of $500 to $5,000, up to a year in jail, or both.",
      "body": "Miss. Code 97-5-27(1): knowingly disseminating sexually oriented material to anyone under 18 is a misdemeanor with a fine of $500 to $5,000, up to a year in jail, or both.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“Any person who intentionally and knowingly disseminates sexually oriented material to any person under eighteen (18) years of age shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined for each offense not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00)”\n\nNote: Text comes from the Legislature's own bill document, which prints the Code section; check the Code for later amendments.",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2021/html/HB/1200-1299/HB1275IN.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "Any person who intentionally and knowingly disseminates sexually oriented material to any person under eighteen (18) years of age shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined for each offense not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00)",
      "volatility": "medium",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 97-5-27",
      "topic": "Dissemination of sexually oriented material to minors",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "legal_fetch_over_cap",
          "deferred_state_uncorroborated:us-ms"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_hb599",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 11-77-6: Civil liability for publishing obscene matter online",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes obscene matter on the internet may be held liable to an individual for damages including noneconomic damages up to $500,000.",
      "body": "A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes obscene matter on the internet may be held liable to an individual for damages including noneconomic damages up to $500,000.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes obscene matter or matter that depicts, describes or promotes child pornography or child sexual exploitation on the Internet may be held liable to an individual for nominal damages, actual damages, noneconomic damages up to Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00), court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court.”\n\nNote: Enacted 2025 (approved by Governor).",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/html/HB/0500-0599/HB0599SG.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes obscene matter or matter that depicts, describes or promotes child pornography or child sexual exploitation on the Internet may be held liable to an individual for nominal damages, actual damages, noneconomic damages up to Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00), court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court.",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 11-77-6",
      "topic": "Civil liability for publishing obscene matter online",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "unverified",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "thin_body",
          "source_unverifiable:fetch_failed:budget"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_hb599def",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 11-77-3: 'Obscene matter' tracks the 97-29-103 test",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] For chapter 11-77, 'obscene matter' has the same meaning as under Section 97-29-103(1).",
      "body": "For chapter 11-77, 'obscene matter' has the same meaning as under Section 97-29-103(1).\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“has the same meaning as provided under Section 97-29-103(1).”\n\nNote: Enacted 2025 (approved by Governor).",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/html/HB/0500-0599/HB0599SG.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "has the same meaning as provided under Section 97-29-103(1).",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 11-77-3",
      "topic": "'Obscene matter' tracks the 97-29-103 test",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "hollow_body",
          "strong_label_on_weak_content"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "learn_r6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_6690_mississippi_obscenity_and_distribution_s533",
      "category": "Safety",
      "title": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-5-33: Child sexual exploitation: distribution and possession",
      "summary": "[Unverified - being checked] Miss. Code 97-5-33(4)-(5): selling, distributing for sale, and knowingly possessing a depiction of an actual child engaging in sexually explicit conduct are offences.",
      "body": "Miss. Code 97-5-33(4)-(5): selling, distributing for sale, and knowingly possessing a depiction of an actual child engaging in sexually explicit conduct are offences.\n\nWhat Mississippi Legislature (bill text) actually says:\n\n“No person shall, by any means including computer, receive with intent to distribute, distribute for sale, sell or attempt to sell in any manner any photograph, drawing, sketch, film, video tape or other visual depiction of an actual child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”\n\nNote: The bill 'brings forward' this section without change, so the printed text is the section as it stood then. Text comes from the Legislature's own bill document, which prints the Code section; check the Code for later amendments.",
      "source_type": "official",
      "source_link": "https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/html/HB/1300-1399/HB1308SG.htm",
      "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
      "reliability": "VERIFIED RULE",
      "source_tier": "A",
      "source_publisher": "Mississippi Legislature (bill text)",
      "evidence_quote": "No person shall, by any means including computer, receive with intent to distribute, distribute for sale, sell or attempt to sell in any manner any photograph, drawing, sketch, film, video tape or other visual depiction of an actual child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.",
      "volatility": "low",
      "from_batch": "6690-mississippi-obscenity-and-distribution",
      "subject": "Miss. Code 97-5-33",
      "topic": "Child sexual exploitation: distribution and possession",
      "applies_to_country": "US",
      "applies_to_scope": "MS",
      "tags": {
        "lane": "any",
        "stage": "setting_up",
        "region": [
          "us-ms"
        ],
        "platform": "any",
        "topic": [
          "unclassified"
        ],
        "explicitness": "any"
      },
      "verification": {
        "status": "failed",
        "label": "Unverified - being checked",
        "reasons": [
          "legal_fetch_over_cap",
          "deferred_state_uncorroborated:us-ms"
        ],
        "checked_utc": "20261021-123916Z"
      }
    }
  ]
}