According to Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert, the laws restricting
explicit pornography in the United Kingdom should be based on issues of “consent”
and “genuine risk”, not moral objection. He states that explicit pornography
produced in the United Kingdom would implicate a mass exodus of companies from
the industry, and will place the United Kingdom at a disadvantage from the rest
of the world.
Adult Broadcaster for Portland TV Chris Ratcliff also agrees
with the statement, saying that the UK’s porn industry will be at a
disadvantage from overseas competitors.
The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 was
implemented on December 1. It requires UK producers of pornography distributed
online to fall under the guidelines set by the British Board of Film Censors
for R18 rated films. It strongly regulates “explicit works of consenting sex or
strong fetish material involving adults”.
The laws apply to online porn and video-on-demand (VOD). All
these would require a certificate from the BBFC, must have effective age
verification controls to prevent the content being accessed by minors.
Huppert said "It seems to me to be very odd to say that
this, assuming it is consensual, is acceptable for somebody to do in their own
home, for them to photograph it, film it, but not to look at it online if it
comes from the UK.
"To me the case for banning things should be driven by
issues around consent, and around genuine risk, not about whether we happen to
like things or not."
