Nick Clegg suggests new porn laws are too tough as he defends right to indulge in 'exotic' behaviour

 
Comments: Nick Clegg (Picture: Reuters)
Sam Lister16 December 2014
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Nick Clegg said today ministers must not "stick their nose in the bedroom" as he suggested that new pornography laws may be too tough.

The Deputy Prime Minster defended the right to indulge in "exotic" behaviour as he raised concerns that the balance may not be right in the way new regulations have been introduced.

Sex workers and campaigners protested last week after a list of sex acts was banned from online porn videos filmed in the UK in a bid to crack down on "harmful" content.

Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert has also called for a Commons debate over the reforms.

Mr Clegg said today: "I do share some of the concerns about the fact that the balance hasn't been got right.

Porn protest - in pictures

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"It's not a prurient judgment about whether you approve or not of someone's behaviour in the privacy of their bedroom.

"It's not the role of politicians to cast moral judgments on that. It's whether we think that in a free society people should be free to do things that many people might find exotic at the mildest, or deeply unappetising at worst, that it's their freedom to do so.

"That seems to me to be a classic Liberal assertion. Government is not there to stick their nose in the bedroom as long as people are not doing things which are illegal.

"It's not really for us to judge how people get their kicks but it is our role to make sure that the law is upheld, but the law does not encroach on private spaces where the law has no role to intrude."

The change in legislation has ruled that paid-for online porn videos must now adhere to the same rules as content produced for sex shop-type videos.

It means acts that would not be classified as an R18 rating, in line with guidelines laid out by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), are prohibited.

The list of about 10 acts reportedly range from spanking to strangulation.

Critics argue the change not only damages the country's porn industry, with online viewers still able to access content banned in the UK by watching videos filmed abroad, but amounts to "arbitrary censorship".

The Audiovisual Media Services Regulation 2014 came into effect this month.

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