Articles
A commentary of the progress of the Domestic Abuse Bill (2020) and the proposed non-fatal strangulation legislation
Domestic violence and abuse are pervasive and ubiquitous social issues which plague our society, causing direct harm (occasionally resulting in death) to the individuals and a range of indirect harms to both victims and their families. In the year ending March 2019 ‘an estimated 2.4 million adults aged 16 to […]
Age verification: Where do things stand?
After the Digital Economy Act passed in July 2017, implementation of age verification has been repeatedly delayed. We were initially told it would start being enforced in April 2018, but it was put back till the end of 2018. In November the Minister for Digital, Margot James, claimed that it will come into effect by […]
Obscenity law liberalised
This is a cross-post from my contribution to the Adam Smith Institute blog. Last week the Crown Prosecution Service published updated guidance for prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act (1959). Legal campaigning has brought about a big change: the liberal tests of harm, consent and legality of real acts are […]
What the BDSM community can teach us about consent
The Metro has just published a piece on What the BDSM community can teach us about consent, interviewing Backlash spokesperson Blake. ‘This idea that consent is a contract is really pernicious,’ Blake says. ‘Consent is revocable and ongoing, and being encouraged to change your mind is necessary for consent. By saying […]
Myles Jackman on the Government’s intent to classify the web
Myles Jackman describes the Government’s apparent intention to classify all video on the web in The New Statesman: Linkage
Origin Story – How Myles Jackman became Obscenity Lawyer
Edward Docx has written a significant account of Myles Jackman’s life and career for the Guardian newspaper. Myles Jackman is a pro bono legal adviser to Backlash. Docx’s story includes an account of the Simon Walsh trial. Walsh’s acquittal represented a powerful challenge to the extreme pornography ban and the […]
Guardian: Sexting could see teenagers branded as sex offenders
Damien Gayle covers Backlash’s warning that ‘criminalising 16- to 18-year-olds for sending explicit pictures to one another shows how disconnected the political establishment is from changes to technology and social values’. Read his article here
Opposition to censorship from left to right and everywhere else
“Currently, the BBFC bans video featuring female ejaculation. It seems ludicrous that in 2014, we could be criminalising people who record and distribute video of a healthy anatomical event” – D H Kelly, The F Word “Why anyone in their right mind would hand any more power to the state […]
Media coverage of new censorship of VoD services
The new Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014, coming into force attracted widespread coverage in the popular press criticising the move, and suggesting general popular support for Backlash’s stance against censorship. The Mirror The Independent The Daily Mail The Guardian New Statesmen The Huffington Post
On Cultural Harm and Pornographic Diversity
Jude Roberts has a significant post on the problematic concept of ‘cultural harm’, which is frequently used as a justification for censoring pornography, especially in the absence of evidence that pornography is associated with more concrete harms against people. Part of her argument links ‘cultural harm’ to the disproportionate focus of […]