Author: Nick
Britain’s Pornographer and Puritan Coalition
This is a cross-post from Notes on Liberty. Brexit isn’t the only ridiculous thing happening in the United Kingdom. In April, the British government is rolling out statutory adult verification for pornography websites and content platforms. This requires all adult content providers to have proof of age or identity for …read more →
Pandora / Blake on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour
On February 11, 2019, Pandora / Blake, independent porn producer and spokesperson for Backlash, spoke on Woman’s hour to debate the implications of the the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to liberalise the guidelines for interpreting the Obscene Publications with Prof. Rosa Freedman (University of Reading). You can listen to the …read more →
Obscenity law liberalised
This is a cross-post from my contribution to the Adam Smith Institute blog. Last week the Crown Prosecution Service published updated guidance for prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act (1959). Legal campaigning has brought about a big change: the liberal tests of harm, consent and legality of real acts are …read more →
Backlash submits written evidence to Home Affairs Committee Inquiry on Prostitution
Backlash has submitted expert evidence as part of a wide-ranging evidence base to the Home Affairs select committee’s inquiry into prostitution. Here is an excerpt: Our position is that criminal sanctions relating to consenting adult sexual activity should be lifted. This includes sexual activities that take place as part of a …read more →
Chris Ashford on the popper ban in the Guardian
The forthcoming ban on so-called ‘legal highs’ and its impact on minority communities seems to be passing almost without notice, and only ceremonial opposition in Parliament. Chris Ashford offers an important corrective in the Guardian. He explains how merely sharing amongst friends and partners a drug that poses no harm to the vast majority of users could see …read more →
Frankie Mullin on sex work and gentrification – 30th January
Frankie Mullin is one of the most informed and prolific journalists writing about sexuality in the UK today. In her work for Vice, the Independent, and the Guardian, she has challenged media myths around porn addiction and casual sex, and given a voice to sex workers and victims of sexual …read more →
Protest Outside Parliament
Myles Jackman, Backlash legal adviser will speak at tomorrow’s protest against sex censorship: It’s a whole year since the London face-sitting porn protest, organised by sex worker activist Charlotte Rose, made global news. The protest was held in response to a new law, AVMS 2014, which heavily restricted which porn …read more →
Millian Liberalism and Extreme Pornography
My article, just published online by the American Journal of Political Science, argues that the ‘extreme pornography’ ban violates liberal tenets of free expression and privacy. I draw a parallel between what we might call a ‘traditional’ Millian defence of liberal rights and contemporary queer accounts of the value of …read more →
THE MORAL PANIC ART CLUB @ LADA, Hackney Wick from 3 Nov
A THREE PART WORKSHOP ON MORAL PANICS, CENSORSHIP AND THE CULTURAL VALUE OF PORN Presented and facilitated by Itziar Bilbao Urrutia, visual artist, pornographer and adult content producer and activist for Backlash UK: I have the pleasure to invite you to my forthcoming talks The Moral panic Art Club, at …read more →
Origin Story – How Myles Jackman became Obscenity Lawyer
Edward Docx has written a significant account of Myles Jackman’s life and career for the Guardian newspaper. Myles Jackman is a pro bono legal adviser to Backlash. Docx’s story includes an account of the Simon Walsh trial. Walsh’s acquittal represented a powerful challenge to the extreme pornography ban and the …read more →