I. INTRODUCTION

I. INTRODUCTION

I. INTRODUCTION

The year is 2021. Meeting people, dating, and talking to people online is not as frowned upon as it was years ago. Many find meeting others online— either for friendship or romantic relationships—is more convenient and less time-consuming than venturing into the real world for these initial connections. But with technology allowing people to hide behind screens, avoid face-to-face confrontation, and even remain completely anonymous, some take advantage and send out unsolicited visual material which would annoy or appall most people. Indecent exposure has essentially transferred online in the form of these unsolicited visual materials, and there has not been a Texas law to combat and deter these unwanted advances until Texas House Bill 2789 (H.B. 2789),¹ now codified as Texas Penal Code

¹. Bill: HB 2789, *TEX. LEGISLATURE ONLINE (Jun. 10, 2019), https://capitol.texas.gov/ BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB2789 [https://perma.cc/P6HX-WDEJ] [hereinafter *Bill: HB 2789] (click the “Text” tab and follow one of the links to the PDF or Word versions of the bill and enrolled act).

Ann. Section 21.19 (“TPC Section 21.19” or “the Code”).² Although the First Amendment allows leniency in government regulation,³ Texas has not used this to its advantage to prevent these types of messages beforehand. H.B. 2789 was written as a safeguard for those who do not wish to receive these unsolicited visuals.⁴ While laws exist to prohibit this conduct in some forms, including in-person indecent exposure⁵ and online harassment when recipients can prove the sender intended to annoy or harass them,⁶ the recent issue of deterring these types of instances online remains. Texas is one of the first states to introduce a bill to do so. The Texas Legislature drafted H.B. 2789 as a response to this existing issue, aiming to stop those who wish to expose themselves to unwilling participants online.

Part II of this Comment will discuss the substantial issues within TPC Section 21.19, outline the trend of regulating the First Amendment in the U.S., and discuss where the remaining gaps leave us in protecting against online sexual advances. Part III will present arguments as to why TPC Section 21.19 will be declared unconstitutional. Part IV will examine underlying issues such as enforceability and potential claims of mistake under TPC Section 21.19. Finally, Part V compares and contrasts TPC Section 21.19 with a similar Texas statute.

I. INTRODUCTION

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