LONDON — The architect of an influential report that recommended banning adult content deemed “degrading, violent and misogynistic” has convened an “Independent Pornography Review task force” aimed at translating that report’s findings into action in the U.K.
Baroness Gabrielle Bertin, a Conservative member of the unelected House of Lords, served as independent lead reviewer on the pornography review. Charged with the responsibility to “assess the damage” adult content causes individuals and society, Bertin delivered a report that has already begun to shape legislation and government policy in the U.K.
As XBIZ reported last week, Bertin’s call for the criminalization of content featuring “choking” has now made its way into legislative proposals, with the government announcing its plan to enact such a ban.
Bertin has now also convened an “Independent Pornography Review task force,” which met for the first time on Monday. The Guardian reports that the group “brought together politicians, police and charities to discuss how to regulate harmful content on the internet.”
One organization participating in the task force, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), announced in a statement that it “stands ready to take on a formal auditing role” in scrutinizing online pornography.
This would be in line with the report’s recommendation that the government appoint “a body, such as the BBFC, who have experience in moderating content, to audit content from platforms hosting pornography to ensure they are tackling prohibited and illegal content.”
The review proposed a “Safe Pornography Code of Practice” under which “legal but harmful” content could be prohibited online. Such a prohibition would theoretically be enforced by Ofcom, the same regulatory body currently enforcing age assurance standards for adult sites under the U.K.'s Online Safety Act. It would equate any categories of adult content that the U.K. government considers “harmful” with already-prohibited illegal content such as CSAM, trafficking, deepfakes and intimate image abuse.
