Even if they do not talk about the problem in terms of porn addiction, many countries are concerned about the mushrooming consumption of porn and are making moves in the direction of criminalizing internet pornography. A number of countries already have. The concern is not only about child porn but all hardcore online porn.
Whether governments should ban porn or not is a complicated matter that is debated on many levels. But there is also a debate about whether it is actually possible to stop the flow of porn onto the internet.
Let’s look at these two questions separately.
Should countries prohibit hardcore adult porn?
A number of countries are either attempting to enforce existing laws against pornography by blocking internet porn sites and/or by prosecuting those responsible for the porn sites. A number of other countries are in the process of trying to make online porn content illegal.
Hardcore pornographic content is already being blocked in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Gaza Strip, Indonesia and Pakistan and there is a complicated regulatory structure in Australia. (See the Wikipedia catalog of countries and their existing porn laws.)
In other countries there is heated debate and movement toward the banning of internet porn, such as India, Egypt and Iceland. And in the UK and the US there is controversy about and resistance to making or enforcing laws that criminalize the posting or viewing of hardcore adult pornographic content.
Some of the main arguments for making anti-porn laws (or for enforcing laws that may be on the books) are:
-Porn is socially unjust in that it is oppressive toward women (Iceland),
-Porn is causing violence against women (India)
-Porn is socially and morally corrosive (China, Egypt and others)
-Porn addiction is a problem for many adults (US, UK)
-children can be inadvertently exposed to harmful content (US, UK, Iceland and others)
The arguments against criminalizing adult hardcore porn are mainly that such laws would violate freedom of expression, that porn is personal and is something that should not be controlled by governments and that there are legitimate positive uses for pornographic content.
Is it possible to outlaw internet porn?
A 2011 International Herald Tribune headline states: “Over 1,000 porn sites blocked in Pakistan.” Although at that time Pakistan was continuing to find and block sites, the article goes on to say that there was a list of over 170,000 websites that might be banned. The article says:
“Blocking 170,000 sites is not feasible for any operator. The screening time on a per request basis will essentially slow the internet down to make it unusable.”
The International Business Times last month had an article on China’s anti-porn ban which reported that the creator of China’s biggest porn site was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2005, and that movie producers and film studios creating erotic films can potentially lose their licenses to make movies.
But the article goes on to state:
“Still, with constantly developing technology, and the demand for pornography, Internet users are still able to access pornographic material.”
Last month the L.A. Times reported that following anti-porn demonstrations, Egypt now has a plan to implement a court-ordered ban on porn websites. The plan is to target each individual website and will cost about $4 million. This is a big and controversial expense for a country that is under pressure economically. This seems like a never ending if not impossible task for any government to attempt. And if porn cannot be interdicted at the level of the website or the internet service provider it seems like a hard sell to prosecute individuals for watching the material that is currently flooding the web.
I am convinced that porn addiction is a growing problem and that the epidemic of porn consumption around the globe shows no sign of slowing. The process of getting the product to the customer via the internet is extremely sophisticated and difficult to regulate.
Yet we do regulate some products that are addictive and/or damaging such as cigarettes, alcohol and even the sexual content of movies. People need to find a way to agree on some basic ideas about what content should be regulated, especially as regards children. The problem of implement regulations on internet content, like the problem of combating porn addiction, will probably be a long and difficult process combining the efforts of research, technology, public heath and advocacy.
10 Comments
Found your contact at LinkedIn. Current problem: 24 yo male total regression wearing diapers 24/7 after total spontaneous incontinence. Now lives with Mon requires her to change them. Fired fron a RN job on NC after dome “event”. I felt needed to rule out a paraphilia to establish a cporrect treatment plan after initial eval. Justified or not? any info helpful. Thanks
I agree that porn should be banned from the internet. This is an addiction for many that is causing many negative side effects in our country.
My concern is if it made illegal, will it be stopped? Illegal drugs are unlawful and still exist as well as underage drinking. How can it be effectively enforced?
Banning porn only makes the problem worse. 1) it would cost society huge amounts of resources to control it (after all, porn is probably the worlds biggest media industry), and it would still be unsuccessful (there is always some way to find porn on the internet). 2) Porn would be criminalized, the industry would be driven underground, and porn actors would suffer the consequences. 3) and yes, IT IS a violation of freedom of expression. Illegalizing porn bcause people become addicted to it, is like illegalizing burning the Koran because it “causes” people to bomb embassies and shoot people. HALLO???! Don’t use valuable resources on a doomed case like banning porn. Use resources on prevention and changing the culture so people wont seek nor need pornographic material. Its a matter of economics – when the demand dies out, the supply ceases!
Porn is pervasive, intrusive and so many become addicted to it.
Governments ought to promote well-being and mental health.They can intervene and discourage debasement of women which has become big business.Young brains are rewired at a vulnerable age. Society has a duty not to let children be exposed to inappropriate material at an early developmental stage.
The things that they have women do in order to fulfill and exacerbate the evil and dark fantasies of porn viewers are atrocious, humiliating, degrading, and destructive to anyone involved. Reading the Koran does not make you bomb an embassy, but watching porn can change your brain and enslave you to the point that it is pretty much “making you” view more porn. And viewing more porn changes your brain to the point where it often almost “makes you” view different and harder core stuff, very much like doing a hard drug “makes you” continue to do that hard drug and seek a bigger and more powerful hit. I was once told that when it comes to viewing porn that “no one is holding a gun to your head.” Personally I think that resisting porn usage would be easier if there were someone holding a gun to my head than it is when the rational part of my brain shuts off and the limbic system takes over. Porn addiction is more compelling and harder to resist than someone holding a gun to your head. Prostitution, the act of having sex with someone for money is illegal. What’s the difference between that and a lot of the porn out there other than that prostitutes often do less shameful and harmful things to their mind and bodies than porn stars do? Porn stars also have sex for money. And it’s not even that they are having sex for money that really bothers me. It is that those women are being abused and hurt for a worldwide audience to watch and take pleasure in.
I think that it’s incredibly difficult to fight and stop on a legal level, but I don’t think that’s an excuse to not even try. We may be amazed at what we can do if we try rather than sitting around and doing nothing while people are getting hurt. “It’s too hard” has been an excuse that people have been using since the beginning of society to get nothing accomplished.
dont forget it also causes Erectile dysfunction. they even talked about it on dr.oz show. google ted: gary wilson the great porn experiment. the main site is yourbrainonporn.com.
many manosphere blogs are against it like 3rdmillenuimmen.com an naughtynomad.com among others.
This is an interesting debate. I find that if I stay out of the controversy I have more balance in my own fight against not using or acting out with pornography. I find for myself that pornography is an illusion and when I live in that illusion I shut down from reality and what healthy sexuality really is. To live free and true to myself I need to not engage in viewing or imagining pornography.
Great comment Carl. Thanks!
-Linda
Thanks for having a platfrom to Share Linda.