LONDON — Following a religiously inspired campaign by a London clergyman, the High Court in the U.K. has opened the way for a legal challenge to the government’s 2019 decision to suspend the implementation of an age verification scheme for “pornography sites.”
In a development hailed as a triumph by the U.K.’s fundamentalist Christian news media, Lady Justice Philippa Whipple on Wednesday “ruled to allow a judicial review of the government's decision in 2019 arguing that there's possibly a gap between the rules covered in the 2017 law and those proposed in the Online Safety Bill,” fundamentalist site Premier Christian News reported.
The 2017 law in question is the Digital Economy Act, while the Online Safety Bill is a piece of legislation still working its way through Parliament.
The ruling comes after a campaign by an obscure London clergyman named Ioannis Dekas, who has consistently misrepresented himself as merely a “concerned father,” concealing his religious affiliation and dedicated anti-porn advocacy.
As XBIZ reported at the time, the BBC’s education editor, Branwen Jeffreys, wrote an article last May headlined, “Father Calls for Pornography Sites to Require Proof of Age.” Jeffreys foregrounded Dekas but misled readers and described him only as “a father of four sons” who allegedly “became concerned after he found one of his boys had accessed pornography.”
Jeffreys neglected to mention the fact that Dekas is a clergyman and an activist, which seems material to his participation in her report.
Dekas is openly listed online as “Campus Pastor” of Doxa Deo Community Church in London. His Twitter biography reads, “Passionate about God, my family, the local Church, worship, music and Chelsea FC.” He also conducts sermons via YouTube, often with an anti-porn theme.
The BBC’s Jeffreys — who did not cite any person with expertise in adult content, age verification or the technical workings of the internet — did not reply to XBIZ’s repeated requests for comment or clarification.
A Pastor's Hopes for State Censorship
According to Premier Christian News, Lady Justice Whipple’s decision is connected to the campaign by Dekas and a woman named Ava Vakil, who argue “that the Government had not introduced rules around age verification on adult sites, despite passing a law to do so.”
“The duo referred to part three of the 2017 Digital Economy Act which requires commercial online pornography sites to have ‘robust age verification controls in place’ to prevent any under-18s from accessing the sites,” the report noted.
The clergyman spoke to the Christian news site, noting he was “delighted that a High Court judge today essentially ruled that it is arguable that the government has acted unlawfully in the protection of children in the U.K. in regard to age verification and access to commercial pornographic websites.”
“My hope is that the decision today will be the much-needed catalyst for change in this regard,” Dekas enthused.
U.K. authorities are currently being lobbied by both religious groups and anti-sex-work organizations — which have the support of most mainstream media across the political spectrum — to define categories of "pornographic website" and "extreme pornography."
Unlike their U.S. counterparts, War on Porn crusaders in the U.K. do not have to worry about anything like a “separation of church and state” doctrine, or First Amendment protections.
A Prayer Against a Made-Up Ailment
The Premier Christian News report celebrating Lady Justice Whipple’s decision ended with the following prayer:
Dear God,
We pray that you guide those in authority who make decisions that impact children.
Help them determine what is best and cause them to act on it.
Lord, protect children from content that can negatively impact their lives.
We pray against pornography addiction and pray that you help those who are struggling and are experiencing the ruin it brings to their life and those around them.
Amen.
Main image: Pastor Ioannis Dekas delivers a YouTube sermon against porn, and BBC News logo (Photo: YouTube)
