(LifeSiteNews) — Last November, I noted that a proposed ban in the United Kingdom on “strangulation” pornography might mark a watershed moment in the debate on what do about the pernicious effects of porn on our youth and culture writ large.
Few remarked on it, but the Labour government’s Crime and Policing Bill included a ban on what is colloquially referred to as “choking porn,” requiring technology platforms to block this content and banning both possession and publication. This type of material, which is common on nearly every popular porn site on the internet, is categorized as a “priority offence,” putting it on the same level as child abuse material and terrorist content.
In my recent book How We Got Here: A Guide to Our Anti-Christian Culture, I detailed why I believe that Western countries will inevitably reach the conclusion that only bans on pornography — something I have been advocating in this space for over a decade — can begin to combat the tsunami of sexually violent material rewiring the brains of generations growing up in the digital age. Indeed, we have seen a shift in the debate on porn from whether it is harmful to what to do about it.
That the UK would ban a specific — and popular — genre of porn is a watershed moment because it constitutes a recognition that some sexual material is simply too poisonous and damaging to permit, regardless of alleged “consent” in the making of the content (which is often dubious to say the least). Porn culture has groomed a generation into thinking that sexual strangulation is normal. The UK has decided, finally, to take action.
Now, the legislation is being expanded to include other genres of popular pornography. “The House of Lords has agreed to ban online pornography normalising violence and child sex abuse,” Christian Concern reported on March 14. “Under a set of amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill approved by Peers, pornographic content depicting incest, torture or over-18s as pre-pubescent children would be banned online.”
“The review I led for the Government showed me corners of this world that you simply cannot unsee,” Baroness Bertin explained. “Online pornography is now so extreme and pervasive that it does not just reflect sexual tastes; it shapes them. It normalises violence, distorts intimacy, grooms men and boys to perpetrate sexual violence and has driven child sexual abuse as well as child-on-child sexual abuse.”
Bertin also noted that this type of content, which some readers might think is obscure and difficult to find, is in fact normal. “To be clear, this is not niche content on the dark web. As a team, we looked for further evidence of this kind of content. It was everywhere,” she noted. “Including on the home pages of mainstream sites, searchable in seconds.” The UK government also plans to ban “nudification” apps, which allows people to undress their peers in photographs using AI technology.
Bertin is precisely correct — we have reported on the growing pandemic of porn-inspired sexual violence for years. The bad news is that the reason this social crisis is finally getting the attention it deserves is because sexual violence in relationships has become normal. The good news is that some legislators have finally realized that no educational program and no sex curriculum can compete with Pornhub. The only way to stop our youth from being sexually groomed by the porn industry is got cut off access.
It is about time. I hope this is just a start.
