The Online Safety Bill does not go far enough to tackle abusive and violent pornographic content online, including content which would be prohibited and so illegal on DVD and Blu-Ray – but is prevalent online.
This includes content which suggests sexual activity with children (where adult actors are made to look like children), content which depicts incest, and content which depicts the infliction of pain or acts which are likely to cause serious physical harm, whether real or (in a sexual context) simulated.
Evidence suggests that viewing content which sexualises children can be a gateway to viewing and seeking out illegal child sexual abuse material, and potentially even contacting and abusing children on and offline.
YouGov polling for Barnardo’s found that almost 70 per cent of UK adults (69%) agree that pornography which would be illegal on DVD should also be illegal online.
We fully support the amendment tabled by Baroness Benjamin to the Online Safety Bill, which would require service providers to exclude any pornographic content that would be classified as more extreme than R18, and would be prohibited offline or on UK-based Video on Demand Services. This would address the inconsistencies between on and offline regulation of pornographic content.