sex

Extreme pornography that shows people being choked should be banned in Britain alongside other ‘degrading’ sexual content, an official review recommends today. 

Baroness Gabby Bertin’s investigation into sexual content online says it should be made illegal to own, share or publish pornography showing ‘non-fatal strangulation’.

The Conservative peer warns that young people now regard choking as a ‘mainstream sexual practice’ due to the prevalence of content, with the average age people first view it now just 13.

Her Pornography Review recommends rules governing websites be brought into line with those regulating offline adult content like DVDs.

It would see a ban on ‘degrading, violent and misogynistic content’ and sites that ‘encourage interest in child abuse’.

Writing for MailOnline, Baroness Bertin reveals a teacher told her that boys aged just 14 had asked her how to ‘choke’ a girl during sex. 

‘Frankly, I think consenting adults should be able to indulge their interests, as long as those interests don’t harm others,’ she writes.

‘But I believe abusive porn today is harming people. A whole generation is learning how to have sex, and how to treat the opposite sex, from the distorted and often disturbing depictions presented by this industry.’

Baroness Gabby Bertin’s investigation into sexual content online says it should be made illegal to own, share or publish pornography showing ‘non-fatal strangulation’.

The Conservative peer warns that young people now regard choking as a ‘mainstream sexual practice’ due to the prevalence of content, with the average age people first view it now just 13.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he will not hesitate to ‘adapt the law’ to prevent people from accessing degrading pornography online.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I know that this content is harmful to many of the people who currently have free access to it.

‘We have the powers to prevent people getting the access to it, even if the material is provided from elsewhere.

‘We just need to find ways of making sure that that is done efficiently and effectively.

‘And if I have to adapt the law in response to any gaps that emerge in these powers, then, of course, I’ll act as swiftly as I can.’

Baroness Bertin, the co-chairwoman of the All-Parliamentary Party Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse, was appointed in 2023 to to look at abuse, exploitation and trafficking in pornography and its impact on viewers.

Her review examined how viewing impacts users of all ages, including emerging challenges from AI generated pornography. 

It also drew on expertise from law enforcement, the criminal justice system, external experts and the pornography industry to look at the existing regulation and whether the existing criminal offences are adequately enforced online as they are offline. 

Her report has 10 recommendations:

Change the law so harmful porn that is already illegal to distribute in physical formats like DVSs should also be illegal to distribute online. 

Porn showing non-fatal strangulation should be illegal to possess, distribute and publish.

Pornography depicting incest should be illegal.

Better police tracking of illegal pornography offences. 

A new body with responsibility to audit porn websites and make sure they are following the rules.

An accreditation system showing which firms are complying with the system, that can be shown to the public, banks, payment providers.

A porn ombudsman to rule on disputes.

New safety protocols for adult entertainment companies to ensure all performers/creators are over 18 and have not been coerced or exploited.

Standard processes by which performers can withdraw their consent and have material removed from websites.

A ban on ‘nudify’ apps that create porn fakes from real images. 

Natasha Kaplinsky, the former newsreader who is now president of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), said: ‘For too long, violent and pussy abusive pornography that would be illegal to distribute offline has been freely available online – to children and adults alike.

‘It is no surprise that the review has found this content, and its influence, to be deep-rooted in society; its harm potential, abundant.

‘We believe parity between how pornographic content is regulated offline and online can be achieved. 

‘We’ve been regulating offline pornographic content for 40 years and we stand ready to work with the government on the recommendations of the review to better protect audiences online – including by bringing our unparalleled expertise to take on a formal role auditing online pornography.’

Her review examined how viewing impacts users of all ages, including emerging challenges from AI generated pornography.

Lynn Perry, the chief executive of Barnardo’s, said regulation would be ‘a significant step forward in protecting children’. 

She added: ‘Content that depicts violent sexual behaviour towards women and girls or sexualises children, which is prevalent on pornography and social media sites, needs to be prohibited in the same way as it is on streaming platforms, Blu-ray and DVDs. 

‘This loophole needs closing for good. 

‘We also strongly support calls for nudification apps to be banned and the criminalisation of AI deepfakes and welcome moves by the government to do this. 

‘These technologies are causing distress and harm to children that will only get worse if we don’t act now.’

It was announced last month that ministers are set to crack down on sexually explicit deepfakes, images generated or edited using artificial intelligence featuring real people, as the practice will become a criminal offence.

Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: ‘For too long, the porn industry has been free to profit from sexual violence against women and children, shaping collective behaviours and expectations about sex in a deeply harmful way.

‘We welcome the porn review’s ambitious recommendations and the clear proposals on how porn sites can and should be regulated, including the need for strangulation and incest to constitute ”extreme porn”. 

‘We know these companies are profiting enormously from sexual violence, and until they are forced to clean up their act, they won’t.’

I believe in free speech … but abusive porn today is harming people 

By Gabby Bertin 

Porn has always been a fact of life, yet in recent years its scale, nature and impact has transformed dramatically.

It’s easily accessible on our computers and our phones, with far less regulation than if it appeared offline. 

The average age people first see pornography is now 13 – often by accident.

Porn’s prevalence has led to an explosion in content, much of which is violent. 

Video titles that are prominent on homepages include words such as ‘attack’, ‘kidnap’, ‘force’, ‘violate’ and ‘destroy’. 

Strangling, also known as ‘choking’, is so widespread in porn that young people report it as a mainstream sexual practice.

I don’t believe society ever consented to this, and an industry which has grown, unchecked, for many years is in urgent need of greater scrutiny.

I am no Mary Whitehouse. I’m a Conservative. I believe in free speech. There has always been pornography; there always will be. 

Frankly, I think consenting adults should be able to indulge their interests, as long as those interests don’t harm others.

But I believe abusive porn today is harming people. A whole generation is learning how to have sex, and how to treat the opposite sex, from the distorted and often disturbing depictions presented by this industry. 

Pornography is frequently cited in relation to the problems of our time – from young people’s poor mental health to violence against women and girls, and misogynistic attitudes.

A whole generation is learning how to have sex, and how to treat the opposite sex, from the distorted and often disturbing depictions presented by this industry.

Extreme porn is increasingly an accessory to the most heinous of offences. 

There is no doubt that the horrific crimes against Gisele Pelicot in France were influenced by depraved online content.

The police officer who murdered Sarah Everard was said in court to have watched and shared violent pornography.

In my year-long review – the most comprehensive government has commissioned on the subject in decades – I sought to understand both the current state of the sector and its impact on society. 

I was astounded by much of what I heard. The teacher who said 14 year old boys had asked her how to ‘choke’ a girl during sex. 

The schoolboy awaiting arrest for sexual assault who could not understand that he had done anything wrong. The nurse treating sexual injuries every day.

Protecting women and girls was at the forefront of my mind as I conducted the review, but the evidence helped me to see that men and boys are victims of this culture too. 

It is such a confusing world for our sons, who are rightly taught to reject sexist attitudes, while simultaneously being shown something very different online.

It is clear that the issue has not been given sufficient attention by government. 

Policing is low-priority and reactive. Data collection is scant. The laws around porn are inconsistent and rarely enforced. 

This was a crucial discovery for me: the fact that some porn is illegal, such as that depicting rape, yet there is no external moderation, monitoring or auditing to enforce this illegality online.

Meanwhile there is a second category of porn, such as that depicting coercion, degradation and penetration with harmful objects, which is effectively banned in the ‘offline’ world of cinemas and DVDs, in that the classification body refuses to certify it. Yet online, this content is not only permitted but rife.

It is this discrepancy that forms that basis of many of the recommendations I make in my review.

For a start, I urge government to ban the legal but harmful porn that would be prohibited offline. 

The two-tier system is confusing and ineffective. It is also nonsensical: if something is beyond the pale in the offline world, surely it is the same online.

I recommend too that non-fatal strangulation is explicitly outlawed. There is no safe way to strangle someone; even a small amount of pressure to the neck can damage the brain. 

So just as the act of strangling is illegal, its depiction in pornography should be too.

There has been much coverage of the making and sharing of non-consensual intimate images recently. 

This is not pornography, and, whether the images are real or deepfake, it is already illegal. 

However, I recommend porn platforms raise awareness about its illegality, as well as how to report it and where to seek support.

A welcome change to the issue will come when the Online Safety Act (OSA) makes it harder for children to access pornography. However, the implementation of the new rules must be closely monitored.

Despite the gravity of what I found, I am optimistic about the future. 

Technology played a huge role in the proliferation of pornography; but technology is also creating the tools that will help us to root out the most dangerous content and make porn safer.

I am urging the government to accept my recommendations, which I believe are as workable as they are comprehensive and necessary. 

The health and happiness of our society depends upon them doing so.

Gisele PelicotFranceSarah Everard