Could Adin Ross go to jail for streaming adult content on Kick?

Adin Ross has been the subject of much controversy over the last day as clips of him streaming sexually explicit adult content on Kick went viral over social media. As a big content creator with a massive following, his stream was watched by tens of thousands of people and sparked outrage as Kick has yet to take action against him.

After the clip posted by Jake Lucky was reacted to by fellow streamers xQc and Kai Cenat, speculation about the legality of streaming porn started on social media. A clip from HasanAbi went viral on Reddit as he read the US Federal law on the distribution of po*rnographic material to minors, which to many seemed proof enough to condemn Adin Ross as a criminal.

However, the truth is far more complex.

---

Adin Ross p*rn controversy: From being labeled a hypocrite to allegations of being a Federal Criminal

The "L Bozo" clip has over 65K views as of this writing and has gained significant traction on the streamer-related subreddit r/LivestreamFail. In it, HasanAbi reads out the United States Federal law regarding adult content distribution on the internet. Part of the "law" that has interested many on the internet concerns this piece of information as read out loud by the streamer:

"Federal law strictly prohibits the distribution of obscene matter to minors. Any transfer or attempt to transfer such material to a minor below the age of 16, including over the internet, is punishable under Federal law."

As is clear from the chat visible on screen during the clip and from many other sources on the internet, many think that Adin Ross's action to stream even the front page of an adult p*rn website on Kick falls under the above category, and therefore, should land him in jail. But in reality, things are much more complex.

Many people in the replies pointed out how Adin Ross had put an age restriction on the stream, meaning the argument that he was wilfully distributing obscene material to minors is not exactly true. Which would make the accusations of him committing a federal crime illegitimate.

While Adin Ross only showed off the home page of an adult website while showing it on stream, it is important to note that according to Kick.com's Community Guidelines under section 3:

"To ensure content is safe for our diverse community, s*xually suggestive content is prohibited on Kick. This includes but is not limited to... Viewing of s*xually explicit content on stream."

Notably, the streamer is yet to be penalized as his account appears to be up and running for days after committing the act. It remains to be seen if Adin Ross, by showing adult content on stream, has opened himself up to much criticism. More so because only last month, he openly called on Twitch to ban hot tup streamers because they were peddling "soft p*rn."

Readers should note that Adin Ross has come under even more scrutiny from the community after sending a thinly veiled message that was deemed the TOS-friendly version of the phrase "Kill yourself" to Jake Lucky, the man who shared the news of him streaming p*rn in the first place.