Legal experts and adult-industry representatives say proposed UK restrictions on sexually explicit online content could go beyond their stated goal of preventing violence against women and girls. They warn that broad wording around strangulation, suffocation and the “possession” of prohibited images could create legal risks for creators, consumers and platforms such as OnlyFans, while the British Ministry of Justice says the measures target content that normalizes violence, promotes illegal activity or causes real-world harm.
Lawyers warn of broad free-speech restrictions
“The UK is really pushing for restrictions on free speech,” said Michael Fattolosi, an adult-industry lawyer based in Italy. “This is just something they’re throwing on top of a mountain of restrictions.”
In a statement to WIRED, British Ministry of Justice spokeswoman Clara Coleman denied that the bill was intended to curb sexual expression.
“We are committed to halving violence against women and girls within 10 years, and that includes preventing harm before it starts,” Coleman said. “[These] The law isn’t about controlling people’s sexual freedom; it’s about content that normalizes violence against women, promotes illegal activity, and can cause real-world harm.”
Lawyer Mr Jackman said there was nothing wrong with a clause banning strangulation, noting that the dangers of strangulation have been established and that UK law already prohibits it. However, he cautioned that the legislation is written so broadly that even relatively innocuous content could be penalized.
“It will be up to the courts to decide this on a case-by-case basis, but given that facesitting by a vagina owner is now considered to be suffocation, penile penetration could similarly be considered suffocation because it obstructs the airway,” he said. In other words, Britain should have banned blow jobs in online porn.
Concerns over possession of images
The law currently applies only to consumers and creators in the UK. Fattolosi is particularly concerned about the potentially harsh penalties for “possession” of such images, which the law defines as images stored on a mobile phone, hard drive or cloud storage.
“As far as creators are concerned, if you’re visiting the UK, if you’re going to the UK for a holiday, if you’re going to the UK for a conference, you probably need to be careful about what you store on your phone,” he said.
OnlyFans faces particular exposure
The subscription-based platform OnlyFans could be especially vulnerable, Fattolosi added. Most American pornography companies do not have a large presence in the UK, making it difficult for Ofcom to pursue them. That is not the case with OnlyFans: its parent company, Phoenix International Limited, is based in the UK and has already received a large fine from a government agency over failures to comply with age-disclosure requirements.
Source: www.wired.com