Internet Watch Foundation

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's working definition of pornography is.

Mr. Coaker[holding answer 27 April 2006]: There is no statutory definition of ‘pornography’ in UK legislation. Under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 it is a criminal offence to publish any article which is considered to be ‘obscene’: that is, an article, if its effect when taken as a whole, is such as to tend to ‘deprave and corrupt’ persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

In the Government's recent Consultation Paper on the Possession of Extreme Pornographic Material, material which is explicit and has been solely, or primarily produced for the purpose of sexual arousal is considered to be ‘pornographic’. By explicit we mean material in which the activity can be clearly seen and is not hidden, disguised or implied. In terms of regulation, we consider the harm that any type of material (whether pornography, violence, portrayal of drugs use, etc.) is likely to cause to the vulnerable, particularly children.

 

Source: Hansard 11.05.06