Age Verification for Adult Websites in the Digital Economy Bill
The UK Government has brought forward plans to require adult websites in the UK to install Age Verification systems to “protect children” from being exposed to adult material.
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UPDATE – The Government wants the BBFC and ISPs to block “Unconventional” pornography”
We wrote to our MP, Flick Drummond of the Conservative Party, objecting to these proposals and got a generic “I think they are a good idea” response, so we wrote again and below is the letter we sent:
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Dear Flick Drummond,
Thank you for your recent reply to my e-mail on the Digital Economy Bill.
In regard to the provisions for Age Verification on adult websites I would like to take this opportunity to clarify some points.
On the matter of protecting children, there is already a method by which children can prevented from accessing adult material, it is called “responsible parenting”.
There are many programs which can be installed on phones, tablets and computers which will restrict and block these sites, so rather than infringing on the rights of adults to legally view material unsuitable for children, the Government should make a concerted effort to educate parents on their responsibilities to protect their own offspring and make it easy for them to install such software on electronic equipment.
This would also avoid the creation of databases on the browsing of adults which would be a gross violation of their privacy and, as Louise Haigh MP, the Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy pointed out, if (or, more likely, when) this information was hacked or leaked, as happened in the Ashley Madison case, this could even result in suicides of people who had committed no crimes.
At the same time, Sex and Relationship Education provision in schools should be improved and follow models such as that in the Netherlands where children are taught to understand that what they see on screen is not a “how to” guide.
I would also like to comment that it is very concerning that the BBFC guidelines for R18 material could be used to categorise material, the fact of the matter is that they would forbid UK production of material showing acts which are entirely legal for consenting adults to participate in, something which I think you would agree is nonsensical.
Finally, there is the absurd suggestion that the Age Verification system should be put in place for ALL websites which are viewable in the UK. This would require producers and suppliers in Europe, America and, in fact, the whole rest of the world to install such systems simply to please the demands of the British Government.
Naturally they will do no such thing since one country’s laws cannot and should not apply beyond their borders, so this will only manage to cripple the businesses of UK SME producers and suppliers, including those of bloggers who make a living from the advertising on their pages and who simply could not afford the overheads of the Age Verification system.
For more information, I strongly recommend you review the following submission to the Committee: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmpublic/digitaleconomy/m emo/DEB61.htm
This was written by Myles Jackman, a leading Barrister specialising in Obscenity Law and Pandora Blake, an award-winning feminist pornographer, whose site was unsuccessfully censored in 2015 by ATVOD, and offers a detailed critique of the fallacies and failings of these proposals.
I trust that you will read it and raise these points with your colleagues on the Committee for this Bill and, when the time comes to vote on these measures, you will support the rights of adults to legally view what they like without the interference of the State.
Yours sincerely,
Graham Marsden.
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We strongly recommend that all our readers and customers contact their MPs and also stand up for their rights to view legal material without being recorded on a database that could be leaked or used for marketing or even criminal misuse of credit card data.
Please don’t copy the letter above exactly, but you’re welcome to modify it and send it to your own MPs via http://www.writetothem.com
If you have written to your MP or have any comments to make on this, please add them below…
PS Don’t forget to share this on your social media channels so we can all object to this iniquitous law!