Morality Campaigners

A coalition of anti-porn campaigners led by Barnardo's, has signed an open letter to the Culture Secretary Rt Hon Nadine Dorries urging her to introduce mandatory identity verification for access to online pornography.

The organisations are urging the Government to make it a legal requirement within the Online Safety Bill that commercial pornography websites protect children from their content using age verification methods.

There are already proposals in the draft Bill to ensure social media and user-to-user generated sites like TikTok keep children safe and protected from viewing harmful material - but the Bill needs to go further. Children do not access pornography through social media sites alone.

Viewing pornography -- often extreme and violent -- can distort children's understanding of healthy relationships and can normalise abusive sexual behaviour and have a corrosive effect on what children view as healthy relationships.

For the Online Safety Bill to be effective in protecting children, Barnardo's and other organisations believe it must include the following measures:

• Mandatory age verification measures for all sites containing pornographic material.

• Harmful and illegal content such as pornography with child abuse or violence against women and girls must not be allowed to be uploaded onto sites. Taking it down after days or weeks after countless viewings is just not acceptable.

• Extending Ofcom's powers to include regulation of commercial pornography sites which do not implement safety by design and age assurance.

• An end to the two-tier categorisation of sites which cannot be future-proofed as new sites can gain significant child viewers in a short time.

The signatories to the letter are:

• John Carr -- Chair of the Children's Charities' Coalition for Internet Safety
• NSPCC
• The Children's Society
• Childnet International
• Internet Matters
• Internet Watch Foundation
• 5Rights
• Catch22
• Kidscape
• End Violence Against Women Coalition
• Association of School and College Leaders
• Girlguiding
• The Lucy Faithfull Foundation
• The Marie Collins Foundation
• Dr Elena Martellozzo, Associate Professor in Criminology, Centre of Abuse and Trauma Studies, Middlesex University
• P SHE Association
• SafeLives
• ECPAT UK.

Squid Game is a 2021 South Korea action mystery thriller
Starring Edward Hong, Yuuki Luna and Daniel C Kennedy

Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes...

A few schools have urged parents to stop their kids watching Netflix's Squid Game. The Netflix show has been a huge hit but schools are reportedly concerned about copycat actions. Youngsters are believed to be wanting to re-enact the games in school playgrounds.

According to the Mirror, one dad said his children's school in Ilford, east London, warned parents in a letter about kids playing their own version of Squid Game and that parents could be sanctioned over it.

One school in Belgium also raised concerns over kids mimicking the show's outcome - with children beating up eliminated players.

Sandown School in Deal, Kent, issued extra lessons on violence and online harm as a response to the show's popularity. According to the Mirror, a spokeswoman for the school said Key Stage 2 teachers gave their pupils extra lessons on online safety and the dangers of watching content that is not age appropriate.

Goodwin Academy, another school in Deal, reportedly confirmed its safeguarding team sent a letter to parents regarding age concerns over the content in the series.

Squid Game has been rated appropriate for viewers aged 15 and older and Netflix gives a series of content warnings including sex, violence and suicide.

 

Update: Bedfordshire Council recommends Squid Games

18th October 2021. See article from theguardian.com

Central Bedfordshire Council  has advised parents not to let their children watch the Netflix show Squid Game, after reports children as young as six are copying its violent challenges.

The education safeguarding team from Central Bedfordshire council sent an email to parents and guardians in the district urging them to be vigilant after hearing reports that children and young people are copying games and violence from hit new Netflix series Squid Game, which is rated 15. The team wrote:

There have been some concerning reports recently about children and young people 'playing' Squid Game whilst at school. Squid Game is also being viewed via other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, and given the popularity of the games in the show, developers have made various mini-games based on Squid Game on Roblox and other gaming platforms.

We strongly advise that children should not watch Squid Game. The show is quite graphic with a lot of violent content.

Update: Viewers heed the recommendations

18th October 2021. See article from inews.co.uk

Netflix has said that the violent Korean drama Squid Game is now its most successful TV show of all time.

The streaming giant told shareholders on Wednesday that the drama has been watched by a mind-boggling 142 million households around the world, though Netflix's definition of viewers includes people who only watched a small portion of a single episode of a TV show.

MP Maria Miller wants a parliamentary debate on whether digitally generated but imaginary nude images need to be banned.

It comes as another service which allows users to guess what people in photos look like undressed.

The DeepSukebe's nudifier website had more than five million visits in June, according to one analyst. Celebrities, including an Olympic athlete, are among those who users claim to have nudified.

DeepSukebe's website claims it can reveal the truth hidden under clothes. According to its Twitter page, it is an AI-leveraged nudifier whose mission is to make all men's dreams come true. And in a blog post, the developers say that they are working on a more powerful version of the tool.

Miller told the BBC it was time to consider a ban of such tools:

Parliament needs to have the opportunity to debate whether nude and sexually explicit images generated digitally without consent should be outlawed, and I believe if this were to happen the law would change.

If software providers develop this technology, they are complicit in a very serious crime and should be required to design their products to stop this happening.

She said that it should be an offence to distribute sexual images online without consent to reflect the severity of the impact on people's lives. Miller wants the issue to be included in the forthcoming Online Safety Bill.

CEASE (Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation) is a new morality group campaigning against porn and sex work in the UK.

The group was founded in 2019 and describes itself on its website:

We shine a light on what sexual exploitation is, where it occurs and how it contravenes our human rights. We campaign for new and better laws, advocate for policy change and hold the global sex industry to account.

We're building a UK-wide movement of campaigners against sexual exploitation, and we're amplifying the voices of the very best advocates for change: survivors.

Its latest cunning plan is to hold the Information Commissioners Office (the UK data protection censor) as responsible for failing to prevent the world's porn sites from obtaining usage data from under 18s. The group writes on its website:

We are threatening to take legal action against the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for failing to protect children's data from misuse by porn sites.

The excuses the ICO has given for its failure to fulfil its regulatory duties are legally and factually flawed. What's more, it has left children exposed to a profit-hungry industry which is intent on drawing children back again and again to watch violent and abusive pornographic material for its own financial gain.

The group quotes long time porn campaigner John Carr:

I was shocked and dismayed by the Information Commissioner's reply to me in which they refused to act against porn sites which were collecting and processing children's data on a large scale. If the data protection laws weren't designed to protect children ... I am sure a lot of parents will wonder just what they were designed to do.

Anti-smoking campaigners claim that French cinema is addicted to showing smoking on screen. A new survey claims smoking features in nearly all the country's films.

The French League Against Cancer says smoking gets 2.6 minutes of screen time on average per film. Tobacco remains quasi-ubiquitous in French films, the League says. However the survey stretches definitions so as to include the presence of ashtrays and of cigarettes, or a character talking about smoking.

The group claims the exposure glamorises smoking and is calling for new measures to cut down the amount shown in movies. A spokesman explained that the group wants to restrict cultural creation. A spokesperson explains:

We do not want to interfere in cultural creation ...BUT... we do not believe that tobacco smoking adds to the character of movies.

But some prominent French filmmakers are aghast at the suggestion that they could be restricted from depicting tobacco use. Mathieu Kassovitz, the award-winning director of La Haine and star of Am39lie, told the BBC:

Movies are not there to be role models - they are there to show what society is,. We have cigarettes in real life so they should be in movies too.

He also pointed out that smoking is not always shown in a positive light.

A moralist campaign group called the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood wants Facebook to scrap its plans to launch a version of Instagram for children.

A letter from the group, signed by 99 individuals and groups including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Global Action Plan and Kidscape, claims that the image-obsessed platform is dangerous for children's health and privacy.

In the letter, the signatories point out that those under the age of 13 already on Instagram are unlikely to abandon it for a new site that seems babyish. The real target of Instagram for kids will be much younger children. Josh Golin, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood executive director, said:

Instagram's business model relies on extensive data collection, maximising time on devices, promoting a culture of over-sharing and idolising influencers, as well as a relentless focus on often altered physical appearance. It is certainly not appropriate for seven-year olds.

Plans for an Instagram for under-13s have been mooted in recent weeks. Facebook, which owns Instagram, said it would be managed by parents. It is a response to state censors who want under 13's to be banned from social media. Facbeook explained:

Kids are already online, and want to connect with their family and friends, have fun, and learn. We want to help them do that in a safe and age-appropriate way, and find practical solutions to the ongoing industry problem of kids lying about their age to access apps.

We're working on new age verification methods to keep under-13s off Instagram, and have just started exploring an Instagram experience for kids that is age-appropriate and managed by parents.

We agree that any experience we develop must prioritise their safety and privacy, and we will consult with experts in child development, child safety and mental health, and privacy advocates to inform it. We also won't show ads in any Instagram experience we develop for people under the age of 13.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group is calling for the censorship of Highwire Games' Six Days in Fallujah.

CAIR has called on Sony's Playstation, Microsoft's Xbox, and Valve's Steam not to host the upcoming game.The group claims that the game promotes Islamophobia and normalizes violence against Muslims. In a statement, CAIR said:

The gaming industry must stop dehumanising Muslims. Video games like Six Days in Fallujah only serve to glorify violence that took the lives of hundreds of Iraqi civilians, justify the Iraq war, and reinforce anti-Muslim sentiment at a time when anti-Muslim bigotry continues to threaten human life.

We call on Microsoft, Sony and Valve to ban their platforms from hosting Six Days in Fallujah.

The game is based on the 2004 Second Battle of Fallujah during the Iraq War. The battle resulted in an unknown number of civilian deaths, and more than 100 US and UK troops. Six Days in Fallujah was first announced in 2009 but at the time, its publisher, Konami, dropped it due to widespread calls for censorship.

Anti porn campaigners have been cataloguing porn titles on Pornhub, XVideos and xHamster and claim that one in eight have titles describing sexually violent acts. Their use of the term 'sexually violent' is a little bizarre though, and inevitably has been redefined to include non-violent material that the authors deem to be violent totally at odds with normal people's use of the English language.

The campaigners analysed 131,738 titles of videos that appeared on the front page of the tube websites (without specifically searching for anything nor allowing the site to build up a profile of preferences).

The campaigners claimed that

• 8,421 (6.4%) titles included terms for family relationships and 5,785 (4.4%) titles described sexual activity between family members - the most common category of 'sexually violent' material identified in the survey
• 5,389 (4.1%) titles referred to physical aggression or the depiction of forced sexual activity (acknowledging that performers had likely consented
• 2,966 (2.2%) titles described image-based sexual abuse, including hidden cams and upskirting
• 2,698 (1.7%) titles described as coercion and exploitation

The campaigners excluded BDSM material as they seemed to have gotten confused about whether the term 'violence' applies to the genre that seems to be higher more PC than other genres.

Pornhub's owner Mindgeek recently removed millions of videos that had been uploaded by users who had not been verified after claims of hosting illegal content. But it commented on the clips it has allowed to remain online:

Consenting adults are entitled to their own sexual preferences, as long as they are legal and consensual, and all kinks that meet these criteria are welcome on Pornhub.

Academic Clare McGlynn who co-authored the survey, said:

It's shocking that this is the material that the porn companies themselves are choosing to showcase to first-time users.

Collegue Fiona Vera-Gray and co-author of the survey, said:

Sexually violent material eroticised non-consent and distorted the boundary between sexual pleasure and sexual violence.

The survey, titled Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography, is published in the latest issue of The British Journal of Criminology. with its abstract reading:

This article examines the ways in which mainstream pornography positions sexual violence as a normative sexual script by analysing the video titles found on the landing pages of the three most popular pornography websites in the United Kingdom. The study draws on the largest research sample of online pornographic content to date and is unique in its focus on the content immediately advertised to a new user. We found that one in eight titles shown to first-time users on the first page of mainstream porn sites describe sexual activity that constitutes sexual violence. Our findings raise serious questions about the extent of criminal material easily and freely available on mainstream pornography websites and the efficacy of current regulatory mechanisms.

Offsite Comment: Academic Click Bate: The War On Porn Continues

7th April 2021. See article from reprobatepress.com by David Flint

The study makes big claims that were inevitably picked up and repeated uncritically by media outlets like the BBC. But even a cursory glance at the evidence and the conclusions might make a more open-minded person raise their eyebrows. If ever there was a study that set out in search of evidence to back up a belief already held, this is it.

See article from reprobatepress.com

Offsite Comment: British Journal of Criminology Study on Violence in Porn

10th April 2021. See article from avn.com

If you only read headlines about a new study from the British Journal of Criminology you might think that large quantities of criminal videos of sexual violence on tube sites are warping most children's minds, turning them into sexual violators.

But this isn't even close to true. The coverage of the study is misleading and exaggerated. But the study itself is extremely flawed.

First, the researchers included everything from stepmom to ploughed in the category of sexual violence. Defined that broadly, it's shocking the study found only one in eight videos depicted sexual violence.

See full article from avn.com

Because of a surge in violent crimes like carjackings in Chicago, one state lawmaker from the city has introduced a bill targeting what he sees as a possible catalyst for the troubles, namely violent video games.

Representative Marcus Evans Jr has called for the banning of sales of video games that showcase, among other things, motor vehicle theft with a driver or passenger present.

This comes as a recent local TV news report from Chicago revealed that some carjacking suspects are not even old enough to drive, and it quoted a local philanthropist as speculating that GTA and video games like it might influence young people to do bad things.

The new law proposed is an amendment to an existing statute in Illinois's criminal code. Already, retailers are restricted against selling violent video games to minors. Evans' proposal would just extend that, banning the sale of violent video games to everyone.

This bill would also prohibit the sale of any video game that depicts psychological harm and child abuse, sexual abuse, animal abuse, domestic violence, violence against women, or motor vehicle theft with a driver or passenger present inside the vehicle when the theft begins.

CitizenGO is a religious morality campaign group. They have taken issue for a rather aggressively woke Cadbury's Creme advert that features two gay men being very sexual about sharing a chocolate egg.

CitizenGO has organised a petition against the advert currently signed by about 30,000 people. The group writes:

Petition to Guy Parker, Chief Executive of the Advertising Standards Agency and Louise Stigant, Managing Director of Cadbury's UK:

I wish to register a complaint about the Cadbury's Creme Egg advertising campaign currently being distributed across mainstream media which features a gay couple engaged in a sexually intimate act.

Cadburys are a well-established household name who deliberately market their products towards families and children; therefore, it is unacceptable that they should seek to expose children to an image which is so clearly hyper-sexualised.

Given that children often copy what they see on screen, the advert constitutes a form of grooming, exposing children to inappropriate and graphic sexual content.

By featuring a gay couple, Cadbury's are aiming to escape criticism by using the cover of inclusiveness and diversity. Still, this sexually graphic advertisement has no place being shown on mainstream media where children can view it.

Such sexual objectification is against the ASA's code of conduct.

I urge you to take immediate action and immediately withdraw the advert from mainstream circulation

Music is a 2020 USA drama by Sia.
Starring Kate Hudson, Hector Elizondo and Maddie Ziegler.  

Zu is newly sober and finding her way in the world when she receives news that she is to become the sole guardian of her half-sister named Music, a young girl on the autism spectrum. The film explores two of Sia's favorite themes -- finding your voice and what it means to create family.

The cancel culture lynch mob has turned its sight on a well meaning movie, Music, directed by pop star Sia. Its PC crime is to not use an autistic actor to play the autistic main character of the film. The movie then relates how music helps her cope.

A particular scene seems to have wound up the activists showing the autistic character in restraints. Zoe Gross, Director of Advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said in a statement:

Music doesn't just promote harmful stereotypes about autistic people -- it shows restraints that have killed members of our community as necessary and loving acts. This film should never have been made, and it shouldn't be shown.

Sia acknowledged that she had heard the complaints and said that she would add a warning label before the restraint scene. She said in a statement:

I promise, have been listening. The motion picture MUSIC will, moving forward, have this warning at the head of the movie: MUSIC in no way condones or recommends the use of restraint on autistic people,. There are autistic occupational therapists that specialize in sensory processing who can be consulted to explain safe ways to provide proprioceptive, deep-pressure feedback to help with meltdown safety.

Later, she went further and said:

I plan to remove the restraint scenes from all future printing. I listened to the wrong people and that is my responsibility, my research was clearly not thorough enough, not wide enough.