In North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein signed a measure creating harsher penalties for people who expose minors to explicit content. The measure affects North Carolina minors and people subject to the new penalties.

The decision weighs protecting minors from harmful performances against the burden of applying legal standards involving material that is "patently offensive" to the average person under contemporary community standards. Readers must judge whether Stein's measure is proportionate protection for minors or an excessive expansion of penalties; the reported penalty figure is 16 months.