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0 Children require greater protections against online pornography over fears over the harm it can cause, the president of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has said.
BBFC boss and TV presenter Natasha Kaplinksy, 50, called on the government to introduce tougher age verification to stop children from coming into contact with inappropriate material.
She also said tighter rules should be introduced to stop young adults from watching violent and abusive content.
Ms Kaplinksy described how she had seen the way young people were constantly exposed to pornography through the experiences of her teenage son and daughter online.
Children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said in January that around half of 13 year-olds are thought to have watch pornography online.
BBFC boss and TV presenter Natasha Kaplinksy, 50, called on the government to introduce tougher rules to stop children from being exposed to pornography
She warned that doing so can warp the attitude and understanding of sex for young people.
Ms Kaplinsky has now said that amendments should be made to the government’s Online Safety Bill to make restrictions on internet pornography the same as the BBFC’s rules on offline material.
She wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: ‘I know all too well the impact that this content can have on young people.
‘And as a mother of two teenagers, I’ve seen first-hand the constant bombardment of online content that children today are forced to navigate, including material that in a sane world would be restricted to adults only.’
She added that a recent parliamentary report said disturbing illegal porn which portrays scenes of rape, sexual violence and incest are ‘readily accessible’ online.
This was due to the BBFC not regulating online pornography owing to a loophole in government legislation.
Ms Kaplinsky said that this meant: ‘Content that would be illegal to distribute offline will continue to be legally available online.’
She said that changes to the legislation were not an attempt to stop adults from accessing pornography, but to stop the spread of material which depicts rape and abuse of woman.
The Online safety bill will go before the House of Lords next month and will face a number of amendments which could see pornography websites forced to bring in strict age checks for their users.
Sites which do not verify age using ID documents could be blocked in the UK or face fines of up to 10 per cent of their turnover.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
