LONDON — Leading U.K. evangelical publication Premier Christianity published an editorial Monday by the acting CEO of its parent company, urging expansion of the Online Safety Act to directly target adult content, especially user-generated content.
Premier Christian Communications acting CEO Kevin Bennett issued a call for readers to sign an open letter to the U.K. secretary of state through the magazine’s Safety Net campaign, telling them, “It’s time for Christians to take a stand against online porn.”
In the piece, Bennet writes that all pornography “should be acknowledged as a form of sexual exploitation” and that “routes for redress for those harmed by pornography” should be provided.
Although he deems the Online Safety Act “a welcome development,” Bennet bemoans that “while it limits children’s exposure to pornography, it doesn’t regulate it. Illegal explicit content will continue unchecked, which means children will still be at risk of exposure to harmful images. Also, young and vulnerable adults with addictive personalities will continue to be damaged by abusive content.”
The online pornography industry, Bennett insists, “has been unregulated for too long. Pornography has proven, harmful effects on loving and meaningful relationships and can form destructive addictions. Pornography consumption leads to the dehumanization and objectification of women and can fuel sexual violence.”
He then calls for the U.K. government to “regulate the supply of pornography as well as the demand for it.”
Quoting NCOSE sibling organization Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation (CEASE), Bennett specifically takes aim at independent creator content, claiming that “the user-generated content (UGC) business model means that videos can be uploaded without any checks, controls or verification.”
As XBIZ reported, the U.K. recently unveiled requirements for adult websites to implement age verification, which may require users to upload images of themselves to be checked against a government or private database when attempting to access content deemed pornographic or “harmful to minors” by the authorities.
