France has surprised the world by announcing that it intends to be “the first country& rdquor; in preventing minors from accessing content pornographic, through a digital certificate that reveals the age of the Internet user without circumventing their anonymity. The decision responds to the warning made by organizations and experts that the consumption of pornography that objectifies and violates women by people without sufficient maturity perpetuates the sexism and is behind the increase in sexual crimes among young people.
It should be said that, out of every 10 videos demanded on the big platforms, seven contain explicit violence. For this reason, PSOE and Unidas Podemos included in the coalition agreement that in this legislature “the reinforced protection of minors to prevent access to pornography” would be promoted & rdquor ;.
However, more than three years later the Government has not approved any technological impediment and, according to the sources consulted, nothing indicates that it will do so in the near future, despite the fact that PSOE and Unidas Podemos share the need to discourage consumption of pornography in minors. The government coalition is entangled in the quarrel about how to reform the ‘yes is yes’ law to prevent the reduction of sentences for rapists. And with the elections regional and municipal elections in May at sight and less than a year until the general ones, there is barely time left to approve this legislature nothing that is not by royal decree or direct bill in the Cortes.
Sex education, the priority
EL PERIÓDICO has asked PSOE and Unidas Podemos about their intentions after the decision taken by France, and the fact is that limiting access to porn is not among their immediate plans. From the outset, the Ministry of Equality, directed by Irene Montero, considers that it is “the sex education of boys, girls and adolescents & rdquor; the “most effective measure to prevent and discourage the consumption of pornography & rdquor ;. For this reason, the ‘yes is yes law’ has included the need for the education system to incorporate the co-education at all stages. In addition, Article 9 obliges the State to carry out bells aimed at “discouraging all kinds of services linked to sexual exploitation, prostitution and pornography that naturalizes sexual violence& rdquor ;.
The opinion of the PSOE
For his part, Andrea FernandezSecretary of Equality of the PSOEmaintains that “in light of the data, pornography is an important source in the conception of sexuality, of power, masculinity and femininity in young people & rdquor; and that the “network has contributed to the increase in the sexual burden on women and girls, underpinning stereotypes and creating new alternative ways of commodifying sex& rdquor ;. For this reason, he considers that it is necessary to “reflect on what sexuality pornography promotes and how it impacts the construction of a society based on values such as dignity, equality and freedom”.
From the PSOE, it is avoided to put a time horizon to when measures of this type will be promoted
In this context, he considers that “the horizon is clear: to continue walking towards the approval of rules and public policies aimed at protecting in this area& rdquor ;. However, the Secretary for Equality avoids setting a time horizon for when these “norms” will be promoted.
The proposition not of law
When the PSOE had been in the Executive for almost a year, it presented a non-legislative proposal in Congress aimed precisely at “preventing access to and consumption of pornographic content by minors”. The initiative was approved but it does not have legal force, it only “urges the Government” to carry it out and, once again, it has been ignored.
In reality, Spanish data protection legislation already requires web pages to check the age of its users. However, the big platforms of the for not they are limited to putting a button that is enough to click it to allow you to access, so children can circumvent this control without difficulties. Studies indicate that they view sexual content earlier and earlier, from the age of 14 average.
Opposition
For this reason, if the Government wanted to limit access, it would find support in some parties of the opposition. “It is something that must be addressed with an appropriate formula, easy for companies to apply and that covers not only web pages but also social networks,” says Sara González, spokesperson for Equality of citizens. As a member of the Subcommittee of the State pact against sexist violence, González assures that in the youths there are increasingly “higher rates of a sexual component that is related to access to pornography & rdquor ;. The PP, for its part, does not consider that prohibiting minors from accessing porn is a priority.
Also in the Catalan sphere, together considers that it is “a problem & rdquor; which must be dealt with. “Controls should be placed on web pages and access to them should be filtered as far as possible. [al porno para menores] on phones mobile”. “For years, in Cataloniadifferent organizations warn about this problem & rdquor ;, say Junts sources.
ERC asks to “watch over the moralistic debates” that this measure could promote. “Can you have an abortion at 16 and not watch a porn movie?”, the conservatives can say
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However, CKD is, like Unidas Podemos, more in favor of consolidating adequate sexual education and “media” than of directly vetoing access. The Republican Party considers that it is also necessary to differentiate between sexist porn, which is the majority, and the feministand “monitor moralistic debates, which can be turned against because any media can ask this question: ‘can you have an abortion at 16 and you can’t watch a porn movie?'”.
The State Attorney General’s Office warned in 2019 about the increase in violence and crimes of a sexual nature committed by young people, especially gang rapes, and related this phenomenon to the consumption of pornography, “where the objectified woman is represented & rdquor ;. For this reason, he urged to address the problem “from the educational field, in which parents and administrators have to join forces.”