A new section in the UK Criminal Justice Bill could well criminalise a large proportion of the British male population.
Clause 63, which focuses on "extreme pornographic images” could well see the millions out there who regularly use the internet to view pornographic images suddenly viewed as criminals in the eye of the law.
Thought police
The Register reports that on Monday 21 April, the Criminal Justice Bill returned to the House of Lords for further debate, where Lib Dem peer Baroness Miller attempted to remove the extreme porn clause.
Baroness Miller claims that the evidence linking pornography with violence and that "the Minister is in danger of leading his Government into becoming the thought police... we do not have any evidence to justify an intrusion in people's lives".
She added: "the Government's contention is that by viewing it [extreme porn] people are more likely to commit violent offences. Therefore, they justify walking into people's bedrooms and turning them into criminals simply for viewing something."
Prudish government
Lord McIntosh of Haringey added: "What does it matter to the Government whether what we have in our homes for our own purposes is for sexual arousal or not? What is wrong with sexual arousal anyway? That is not a matter for Parliament or government to be concerned about."
The report adds that up to two million people could have such images on their computers, often unknowingly, which “raises the spectre of police unable to prosecute someone on another unrelated matter taking a peek at their hard drive to see if they can get them for possession of porn.”
(Source: The Register)
