Regulators differentiate ‘indecent’ from ‘obscene’ speech based on established legal standards. Indecent speech is offensive content that does not meet the high threshold for obscenity. Obscene material, legally defined by the Miller test, must satisfy three criteria: appeal to prurient interests, depict (or describe) sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Indecency offers more leeway for regulatory action focused on time, place, and manner restrictions.
For example: A daytime airing of a sexually explicit scene might be classified as ‘indecent’ while one lacking any artistic value and designed solely for eliciting arousal could be ‘obscene’.