The Unexpected Consequences of the Porn Ban

It stretches a lot further than explicit sexual content…


The recently rolled out ‘porn ban’ (if you’re on Virgin Media it’s all cool, you still have a few more months left of freedom to browse) has seen the internet become a battleground of what is acceptable and what is deemed unacceptable by the filters.

Users have found that, if they wish to view porn or any of the other ‘unsuitable’ content, they have to opt in, causing an extremely embarrassing situation for all involved.

Many students find that their internet is controlled by their landlord, making it near impossible to opt in to watch or access blocked content. Moreover, their has been a surge in students staying at home whilst they study, again creating an awkward situation: how does one drop into conversation over breakfast with one’s parents ‘by the way, can you lower the porn filters?. It is a situation that many dread and will avoid.

No more porn for you, young lady

However, their have been many unforeseen consequences of the so called ‘porn ban’, many of which affect students in particular:

Access to some Sexual Health Advice websites are being restricted, limiting the access that individuals can have to advice. With sex already being a taboo subject among the British, this is worsening an already burgeoning issue within the country.

18 year olds are leaving Secondary School with minimal Sex Education (Church school anyone? I barely knew what the Pill was, let alone how and when to take it) and without a wide access to content online students run the risk of getting themselves into some potentially dangerous and  traumatising situations if they are not equipped with information surrounding safe sex.

BT have since removed the ‘gay and lesbian’ clause

Selected Rape and Sexual Abuse websites are falling on the wrong side of the filter, with the BBC reporting that BT has labelled them as ‘pornographic’. In a system where only a minimal percentage of rapists are convicted, this is a disgusting consequence of the filter.

Many do not speak up and seek help following an assault, with the internet providing impartial and private advice: with this content being restricted, this is not only a freedom to browse issue but a feminist issue also.

The porn ban stretches a lot further than actual porn, but I believe that that was the intention all along. Released under the pretension that it has been rolled out to protect children from explicit content, it has actually put a lot of children at risk, with ChildLine being marked as inappropriate by 02.

Porn does create terrible sexual stereotypes and portrays sex as something that is it not to children, but an opt-out filter system would have been more appropriate. Those with children could opt in, leaving the rest of us with freedom to browse and access to the content that we wish to view.

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