Amendments aimed at tightening regulations on online pornography have been introduced to the Crime and Policing Bill, garnering support from the Christian policy group CARE. These changes mark significant progress in the ongoing effort to control online content.
The proposed amendments mandate verification of legal age for performers in online pornography and ensure they have the right to request removal of any content featuring them. Incest pornography and content mimicking child abuse, even with actors of legal age, will be prohibited under the new rules.
CARE has hailed these revisions as “monumental steps forward” in the regulation of online pornography. The group has long criticized the disparity in regulation between online and traditional media, advocating for reforms since 1994.
The amendments are currently under review by the House of Commons, with expectations that they will return to the Lords before receiving Royal Assent.
Caroline Ansell, CARE’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, emphasized the importance of these changes: “But today, a line is being drawn in the sand, people are starting to see what we knew in 1994, online content that fuels the abuse and violent sexualisation of children and women should not be allowed.”
“People are starting to realise the harm that has been inflicted on society by freely available and unregulated porn online. The fight does not stop here. We will continue to campaign for greater regulation of an industry that harms women and girls across the UK and I urge MPs to back these changes today in the Commons,” she added.
While CARE supports the proposed pornography regulations, other elements of the Crime and Policing Bill have sparked controversy among Christians. Notably, an amendment proposing the decriminalisation of abortion up to birth has faced substantial opposition.
A group of faith leaders expressed alarm earlier this week over a new clause that could potentially erode the right to protest.
As the Lords’ amendments were debated in the Commons, Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh criticized the decriminalisation of abortion up to 39 weeks, stating it was “appalling that abortion up to 39 weeks is being decriminalised, without the proper evidence or scrutiny”.
“Is it not a terrible indictment of our society that a human life can be taken when it is about to be born, at 39 weeks, and that there should be a free pardon in such a serious case?” he said.
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
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