The words “UK Government” and “porn” rarely ever are part of a headline announcing good news but here we go: Porn depicting a number of previously banned sex acts has been made legal in England after a review of their ridiculous obscenity laws.
Essentially, sex acts that are not illegal in another context can now be shown in pornography. Certain types of violent porn are now permitted so long as the sex acts are consensual (focusing on ‘full and freely exercised consent’) and do not cause serious harm to participants.
Not illegal in the UK anymore (video by Helix Studios)
The UK government first stated fetish pornography would be outlawed under the Obscene Publications Act. This included any form of BDSM and other pretty tame subjects like face-sitting, fisting and female ejaculation.
This was seen as a major blow to British porn producers. Many protested this change as censorship. ‘Distributing’ obscene material can simply mean sending a video via private message and can be punished with time in prison.
But even if you can watch fetish porn, you will still have to prove your age. New porn laws, officially coming in April, will mean Brits will have to input credit card details if they want to view a site that is at least one-third pornographic.
Obviously this opens the door for credit card data being intercepted by a third party or saved in an unsafe manner by website owners. The habits of people looking at porn could also be tracked by the government.