Representatives of the Free Speech Coalition, along with a group of sex workers, producers and industry advocates, recently met with UK Baroness Gabrielle Bertin, the member of the House of Lords tasked with conducting a review of the country’s pornography laws, the FSC has revealed.
According to FSC’s announcement, Baroness Burton “reached out to FSC Executive Director Alison Boden in January, asking if the organization would participate in a discussion as part of the government’s Independent Pornography Review.”
The Review’s Call for Evidence, described as a “request for stakeholders to weigh in,” says it seeks “to shed light on the associations between the pornography industry and the abuse, exploitation and trafficking that may pervade it” – a rhetorically loaded request for input if ever there was one.
FSC reports that during the meeting the FSC and other adult industry and sex worker representatives “implored the Review to focus on facts, not headlines.”
“We challenged assumptions made suggesting that the adult industry was engaged in illegal activity, or that illegal content — such as revenge porn and CSAM — was tolerated or permitted on adult platforms,” FSC noted. “Most of all, we pressed for on-going discussions with workers and other stakeholders in the industry.”
FSC was joined at the roundtable discussion by representatives of Sex Workers Union, Adult Industry Association (AIA), UK Adult Producers (UKAP), Pineapple Support, as well as UK-based obscenity lawyer Myles Jackman, among others. FSC said the organization looks forward to “continuing the discussion with our allies, partners and the members of the Review team.”
“While we’re certainly wary of the way the debate is being framed, it’s crucial to have a seat at the table,” Boden said. “We were glad to be invited and given the opportunity to contest misinformation and bad policy, it allows us to push for greater transparency and inclusion. We only lose by being silent.”
