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The government has agreed to ban the production of pornography depicting sex acts between stepfamily members following a vote in the House of Lords.
The government tabled an amendment calling for step-incest to be included in a ban on harmful content, with the support of the Conservative peer Gabby Bertin, who led a review into pornography regulation that was published last year.
The ban is one of several that have been proposed by the government, including last year’s criminalisation of material depicting women being choked.
Some ministers had opposed the amendment and suggested the new ban would have been difficult to implement because, under the law in England and Wales, it is not illegal for adults who are step-related to engage in a sexual relationship.
Speaking after the ban was agreed on Friday, Lady Bertin said: “I greatly welcome the government’s plans to fully address harmful pornographic content, such as incest, step-incest and the mimicking of child sexual abuse.
“This content that is freely and widely available online is deeply harmful, normalising child sexual abuse and abusive relationships within families.
“Today the government has answered our calls for change, and I am delighted that once again the UK is leading the way on regulating this high-harm industry.”
The amendment was narrowly passed, with 144 voting in favour and 143 against. Once the law comes into effect, anyone found to posses or publish pornography which shows incest between family members, or sex between step- or foster-relations where one person is pretending to be under-18, will be criminalised, with publication carrying a maximum penalty of two to five years’ imprisonment, depending on the severity of the content.
Alex Davies-Jones, the minister for victims and tackling violence against girls, said: “I’ve sadly heard far too many devastating stories from victims and I know we need change now.
“Tackling violence against women and girls within a decade will take every single one of us. We have been clear that vile online pornography has real-life consequences for all of us and I’d like to thank every brave campaigner who has worked with us to deliver this vital step.”
She added: “Today we are sending a powerful message: we will stamp out misogynistic and harmful content online and create a safer world.”
The bans coincide with the government announcing its intention to table an amendment to the crime and policing bill which would hold tech bosses personally accountable if websites run by them or their companies fail to remove intimate images of people that have been uploaded without their consent, sometimes referred to as “revenge porn”.
Under this amendment, senior tech figures who have been made aware of non-consensual sexual material on their websites could face large fines, imprisonment or both if they do not act to remove without good cause.
The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said: “Too many women have had their lives shattered by having their intimate images shared online without consent.
“This government is uncompromising in our mission to protect women and girls online, and we have taken action to stop tech firms from publishing this abusive content.
“In February, we told platforms that they must remove reported non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours. Now we are going further by introducing measures meaning that senior tech executives could be criminally liable if their companies fail to act when required to do so by Ofcom.
“Protecting women and girls online is not optional, it is a responsibility that sits squarely with every tech company’s leadership.”
