LONDON — The acting CEO of U.K. leading religious advocacy publication Premier Christianity published an editorial Monday urging for an expansion of the Online Safety Act to directly target adult content, especially user-generated content made by independent creators.
Emboldened by the passage of the much-delayed Online Safety Act by the weak Tory government of Rishi Sunak, Kevin Bennett issued a call to his readers to contact government officials and lobby through the magazine’s Safety Net campaign, telling them that “it’s time for Christians to take a stand against online porn.”
Bennett asked readers to sign an open letter to the U.K. Secretary of State through the Safety Net campaign website.
Bennet wrote that all pornography “should be acknowledged as a form of sexual exploitation, and routes for redress for those harmed by pornography provided.”
Although he deemed the Online Safety Act “a welcome development,” Bennet bemoaned that “while it limits children’s exposure to pornography, it doesn’t regulate it. Illegal explicit content will continue unchecked, which means children will still be at risk of exposure to harmful images. Also, young and vulnerable adults with addictive personalities will continue to be damaged by abusive content.”
The online pornography industry, Bennett insisted, “has been unregulated for too long. Pornography has proven, harmful effects on loving and meaningful relationships and can form destructive addictions. Pornography consumption leads to the dehumanization and objectification of women and can fuel sexual violence.”
He then called for the U.K. government to “regulate the supply of pornography as well as the demand for it.”
Quoting NCOSE sibling organization Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation (CEASE), Bennett specifically took aim to independent creator content, claiming that “the user-generated content (UGC) business model means that videos can be uploaded without any checks, controls or verification.”
Bennett finished his column by asking U.K. Christians to pressure the Sunak government to steer the review of pornography laws he has launched in the direction of more regulation of creator content.
As XBIZ reported, the U.K. has just unveiled requirements for adult websites to implement age verification, which may include having to upload a photographic portrait to be checked against a government or private database every time anyone attempts to access content deemed as pornographic or “harmful to minors” by the authorities.