Joint Committee wants ban on "extreme porn"

Damian Collins MP, Chair of the Joint Select Committee on the Online Safety Bill, has called for “extreme pornography” to be banned from the internet in the UK.

He told Politics Home that the content - defined as pornography that promotes violence or criminality - should be outlawed under the UK Government's Online Safety Bill.

Mr Collins told the website:

“Extreme pornography should be included in the bill. Content that promotes violence against women and girls should be in the bill. These are already offences, we signed international agreements in the United Nations to combat this sort of stuff.

“The act of creating [adult content] to promote violence against women and girls through showing extreme porn videos is something I think many people regard as already being in breach of the law.”

Currently, people found in possession of extreme pornography can be prosecuted but sites that host the same content evade punishment.

CARE has campaigned for a ban on extreme pornography for several years and this should have been ushered in under Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017. It was never enacted by the government.

Mr Collins' comments come after the government committed to mandatory age checks on all pornographic websites, for the second time.

On Tuesday, Digital Minister Chris Philp said new measures in the Online Safety Bill will force all sites that publish pornography to prevent underage access through age verification technologies.

Our CEO Ross Hendry welcomed the news, which comes after many years of lobbying by CARE:

“Today’s announcement is hugely encouraging for all of us at CARE who have spent years calling for this safeguard. Tens-of-thousands of children have stumbled across and continue to stumble across porn. They are disturbed, upset, and damaged by it. A just society does not allow this to happen, and it is good that the government has finally recognised our campaign.

“Some groups oppose this technology on the grounds that adults should not face any barrier to porn. They argue that barriers to access violate privacy or ‘interfere with sexual freedom’. In a society that requires people to present proof of age to purchase alcohol, tobacco, or other adult products online, this is absurd. Adult convenience should never trump child safety.

“We await more detail from the government and will engage with Ministers and the parliamentary process in the months ahead. Regardless of party-political affiliation, parliamentarians should row in behind age checks as a welcome and long overdue safeguard. Several European countries have implemented it in the last few months – it’s time the UK followed suit.”