LONDON — The U.K. government has announced its intent to follow through on criminalizing “choking” content, a plan that was announced earlier this year.
As XBIZ reported in June, the U.K. Parliament has been debating making it illegal to depict “non-fatal strangulation,” commonly called choking, in online content.
The government has now confirmed that it has introduced amendments to the pending Crime and Policing Bill that would make choking in pornography a “priority offense” under the Online Safety Act — a label that currently applies to CSAM and terrorism content.
The government statement quotes Technology Secretary Liz Kendall as saying, “Viewing and sharing this kind of material online is not only deeply distressing, it is vile and dangerous. Those who post or promote such content are contributing to a culture of violence and abuse that has no place in our society.”
The drive toward a “choking” ban gained momentum following the release, in February, of a “pornography review” that recommended banning any adult content deemed “degrading, violent and misogynistic.”
At the time, Free Speech Coalition Director of Public Policy Mike Stabile told XBIZ, “This isn’t about protecting women, it’s about policing desire. Consent should be the central factor in determining what is legal, not what offends a government official.”
On June 19, the U.K. government issued a statement confirming its intent to outlaw content involving strangulation.
In response, European director, performer and sex work activist Paulita Pappel told XBIZ that such measures “will disproportionately harm smaller, independent productions, making it even harder to create and distribute diverse content — ultimately depriving the public of authentic representation and cultural diversity in adult media.”
The Crime and Policing Bill has been pending in the upper house of Parliament, the House of Lords, for some months, but is expected soon to move forward in revised form.