LONDON - UK anti-censorship groups have banded together to oppose a bill that would criminalize the possession of "violent" or "extreme" pornography.
Designed to crack down on internet porn, the proposal was drafted in the wake of special education teacher Jane Longhurst's murder. Though the cause-effect relationship between violence and pornography has often been challenged, Longhurst's former boyfriend told the BBC that Longhurst "would still be here if it wasn't for the internet."
Following the conviction of Longhurst's killer, the victim's mother organized a petition to ban such images. It was signed by 50,000 people.
The proposed bill would ban images depicting "an act which results in or appears to result (or be likely to result) in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals". But opponents warn that such legislation would affect BDSM groups, Goths and horror films that "convey a realistic impression of fear, violence and harm".
Pressure group Backlash, which includes the Libertarian Alliance, the Spanner Trust, the Sexual Freedom Coalition, Feminists Against Censorship, Ofwatch and Unfettered, is calling for British Parliament to withdraw the bill because of its potentially chilling effect on free expression.
"Much has been made of the 50,000 who signed the petition organised by [Labour MP] Martin Salter and the Jane Longhurst Trust," said a statement from Backlash. "But the wording of the petition invites signatories to oppose 'extreme internet sites promoting violence against women in the name of sexual gratification.' Anyone would object to material 'promoting' violence against women, but the scope of the legislation is much wider than this. It criminalizes material featuring consenting adults engaging in staged or controlled fantasies."
"The current fears around the possible impact of 'violent pornography' on the internet seem very similar to previous 'moral panics' in Victorian times, to horror comics in the 1950s, to 'video nasties' in the 1980s," Dr. Megan Barker, senior lecturer in psychology at London's South Bank University, told vnunet.com.
"Time and time again, research has challenged the simple cause-effect relationship between exposure to such media and violent behavior. But it is an easy scapegoat in a society which does not want to look at the more complex and insidious reasons for crime and violence, for example issues around poverty, class and the kinds of gender roles that are valued."
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