LONDON — The “pornography review” initiated under the conservative government of former U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is soon expected to present its recommendations, which according to a BBC report will include banning any adult content deemed “degrading, violent and misogynistic.”

According to the report by the BBC’s Mark Easton, measures proposed in the forthcoming review will include, for example, “making it illegal to possess or publish pornography showing women being choked during sex.”

Predetermined Conclusions

The pornography review was initiated in December 2023 at the behest of the U.K.’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), in the wake of then-Prime Minister Sunak’s call for a full review of British pornography laws.

From the outset, the review’s likely conclusions seemed predetermined, as the DSIT trumpeted in a statement that the porn industry would be scrutinized to “assess the damage it causes individuals and society” and to identify ways to tackle the “harmful impact of pornography on viewers.”

To oversee the review, then-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Michelle Donelan appointed Baroness Gabrielle Bertin, a member of the unelected House of Lords, as “independent lead reviewer” with the responsibility to “assess the damage” adult content causes individuals and society.

At the time, Bertin declared, “The damaging impact that extreme pornography is having on society cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. We owe it to our children and indeed to the whole of society to put the guard rails back in place.”

‘Misinformation and Bad Policy’

In January 2024, the DSIT issued a call for evidence, soliciting input from experts, organizations and members of the public.

In February 2024, representatives of Free Speech Coalition, along with sex workers, producers and industry advocates, pressed for ongoing discussions with industry stakeholders during a meeting that FSC Executive Director Alison Boden called an “opportunity to contest misinformation and bad policy.”

FSC reported that its February 2024 delegation “implored the Review to focus on facts, not headlines.” However, recommendations such as banning adult content that features choking reflect media porn panics fueled by the talking points of anti-porn crusaders.

In October, one of Europe’s leading right-wing publications, the European Conservative, published an editorial calling for a total ban on all pornography, which the author justified by attributing a supposed epidemic of sexual choking to men imitating the pornography they watch.

Next Steps on the Path to Censorship

After Sunak’s government was defeated in a July 2024 election, the status of the review was briefly in limbo until the Labour government of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed in September that the review would proceed as planned.

Now, with the review finally complete, Bertin will make 32 recommendations on addressing the “high-harm sector” of legal online pornography, according to the BBC report.

“Ministers will be urged to give the regulator Ofcom new powers to prosecute online platforms that refuse to remove harmful content,” Easton writes.

U.K. communications regulator Ofcom is currently charged with enforcing the Online Safety Act, which does not prohibit or ban consensual adult content, but requires that sites and platforms verify that users are adults before allowing access to such content.

Should content labeled as “degrading, violent and misogynistic” become illegal in the U.K., however, Ofcom’s responsibilities could escalate to include enforcing such a ban.   

Once the review is officially presented to Parliament, the DSIT will respond to its recommendations. Parliament will then have the option of enacting new laws such as those reportedly being proposed by the review.