Pornography
USA – Sexually violent acts prevalent on Pornhub and other major porn sites
Sexually violent pornography scripts are commonly promoted on the main pages of Pornhub and other widely accessed porn sites. The British Journal of Criminology published an article titled “Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography,” which analyses the presence of sexually violent material on major pornography sites. Fiona Vera-Gray, an assistant professor at the Department of Sociology of Durham University in the United Kingdom who specializes in the subject of sexual violence, was the lead author. They found that one in eight titles shown to first-time users on the first page of mainstream porn sites describe sexual activity that constitutes sexual violence. According to the analysis, the most common themes include incest and non-consensual actions, which include content where subjects are described as being “drugged,” unconscious or very young. Article in BJC, Reporting article
USA – Mastercard Adds New Rules to Confront Pornography Site Abuses
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) commended Mastercard for instituting new rules on banks that process payments for pornography tube sites. Banks will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content. Mastercard will also require the pornography websites to document the age and identity of anyone depicted in or uploading the content. Pornhub have come under fire for profiting from videos depicting child rape, sexual assault, incest, and non-consensually shared content. NCOSE founded in 1962, is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation. More
Germany – Authorities Bust Major International Child Porn Site
German authorities, in conjunction with Europol and law enforcement agencies in the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, the United States and Canada, busted a child porn platform on the dark net with over 400,000 registered members. “Boystown,” as the platform is called, was used by pedophiles and could only be accessed through special software. The site is designed to allow pedophiles to view and upload images of child sexual abuse without being detected by law enforcement. Three administrators of the site were charged. As part of the services they offered, they helped users evade detection from law enforcement. Most of the images on the platform were of young boys, including what authorities described as images of most severe sexual abuse of toddlers. More
UK – Dad takes legal action to protect sons from porn
Ioannis Dekas, 52, a father of four is taking legal action against the Government over its failure to implement promised age-verification checks on pornographic websites. Regulations to require pornographers to introduce strict age-verification checks online were approved under the Digital Economy Act 2017, but the plans were dropped in October 2019. The Government’s proposals for a replacement age verification system are significantly weaker, and there is currently no date set for the new Online Safety Bill. Children are being harmed by the lack of age-verification – a breach of the Government’s legal duty to protect them. Mr Dekas had noticed a “drastic” change in his son’s behaviour before he found out that their son had viewed porn due to peer pressure. He stressed that “porn is harming our young people”. More
UK – Government lays out plans to protect users online
Social media firms will have to remove harmful content quickly or potentially face multi-billion-pound fines under new legislation as stated in the Queen’s Speech. It is “especially” geared at keeping children safe. The draft legislation, previously known as the Online Harms Bill, has been two years in the making. It covers a huge range of content to which children might fall victim – including grooming, revenge porn, hate speech, images of child abuse and posts relating to suicide and eating disorders. But it goes much further, taking in terrorism, disinformation, racist abuse and pornography, too. More