Monday, January 26, 2009
Another restriction on personal freedom begins today.
Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 comes into force on 26 January and makes owning offending pictures a criminal offence punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. An image is deemed to be extreme if it "is grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character" and portrays in any way an act which threatens a person's life, or which results or appears likely to result in serious injury to someone's genitals or breasts.
Opponents have no problems with two provisions banning images of bestiality or necrophilia – both of which are already illegal to do – but fear that the other definitions are so vaguely worded that even images of consenting adults engaging in fictional violence will now be outlawed, giving Britain the toughest anti-porn laws in Europe.
The Bill went through the Commons unchallenged and only in the House of Lords was there any significant opposition. Baroness Miller, the Liberal Democrat peer, argued that the legislation would justify the Government "walking into people's bedrooms and turning them into criminals simply for viewing something". The law is a significant change in direction for policing pornography in Britain because it shifts the burden of guilt from those making the pornography to those viewing it.
...Okay, our Parliament has decided to further restrict our freedoms yet again. The viewer of any media should be the only person to decide whether they wish to view that media. It should be a matter of personal choice and not a criminal offence to look at material that some people may find offensive. The list of banned material is growing, I am not a pornographer or a terrorist but every adult should be allowed to look at whatever they please. We do not all want to be restricted to children's television. This delves into the spectre of the Thought Police. A person's thoughts should be free and it should not be a criminal offence to view images in the privacy of your own home. You can watch a war film on television but the viewer does not go out to kill people. War films are made without any of the actors being killed or hurt. What has people's thoughts at home in their free time got to do with the Police?
The Consenting Adult Action Network and Backlash have campaigned about this legislation but I fear the battle has been lost. Although we live in a democracy, ultimately the freedom of that democracy has decided to further reduce our freedom to live as adults. The bedroom Police have arrived and we are all to be treated like naughty children.
Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 comes into force on 26 January and makes owning offending pictures a criminal offence punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. An image is deemed to be extreme if it "is grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character" and portrays in any way an act which threatens a person's life, or which results or appears likely to result in serious injury to someone's genitals or breasts.
Opponents have no problems with two provisions banning images of bestiality or necrophilia – both of which are already illegal to do – but fear that the other definitions are so vaguely worded that even images of consenting adults engaging in fictional violence will now be outlawed, giving Britain the toughest anti-porn laws in Europe.
The Bill went through the Commons unchallenged and only in the House of Lords was there any significant opposition. Baroness Miller, the Liberal Democrat peer, argued that the legislation would justify the Government "walking into people's bedrooms and turning them into criminals simply for viewing something". The law is a significant change in direction for policing pornography in Britain because it shifts the burden of guilt from those making the pornography to those viewing it.
...Okay, our Parliament has decided to further restrict our freedoms yet again. The viewer of any media should be the only person to decide whether they wish to view that media. It should be a matter of personal choice and not a criminal offence to look at material that some people may find offensive. The list of banned material is growing, I am not a pornographer or a terrorist but every adult should be allowed to look at whatever they please. We do not all want to be restricted to children's television. This delves into the spectre of the Thought Police. A person's thoughts should be free and it should not be a criminal offence to view images in the privacy of your own home. You can watch a war film on television but the viewer does not go out to kill people. War films are made without any of the actors being killed or hurt. What has people's thoughts at home in their free time got to do with the Police?
The Consenting Adult Action Network and Backlash have campaigned about this legislation but I fear the battle has been lost. Although we live in a democracy, ultimately the freedom of that democracy has decided to further reduce our freedom to live as adults. The bedroom Police have arrived and we are all to be treated like naughty children.
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