Bonnie Blue doc fury as kids can watch despite strict new porn age-check rules
The shadow Home Office minister has labelled it 'bizarre' that children can view a TV documentary about sex marathon star Bonnie Blue, despite new stringent age checks designed to prevent them from accessing pornography.
Channel 4 is currently under scrutiny by lawmakers and Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, for airing a show about the ex-Only Fans content creator who boasts of sleeping with 1,057 men in just 12 hours.
Despite the channel's policy requiring viewers to be at least 16 to create an account, the absence of a robust age verification system allows minors to simply falsify their birth dates to gain access. It comes after Katie Price worries fans with appearance in family photo after explaining weight loss.
The programme, which includes explicit scenes of Bonnie nude, engaging in sexual acts, and creating adult films with other porn stars, seems to contradict the Government's fresh Online Safety Act that mandates age verification to block underage users from adult content websites.
When quizzed on Times Radio about the feasibility of a credible online safety framework given the ease of accessing such material on a public broadcaster's platform, shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam remarked: "It seems bizarre to me," reports the Daily Star.
She added, "There is clearly a consistency problem both in terms of content and in terms of platform."
However, Channel 4 has defended its streaming service, insisting that it employs industry-standard controls to prevent those under 18 from viewing content that's not suitable for their age group.
Bonnie Blue - whose real name is Tia Billinger from Nottinghamshire - has boasted of raking in as much as £1.5 million monthly through the OnlyFans platform via publicity stunts including her world record bid to sleep with the maximum number of men within a 24-hour period - until she received a ban from the platform.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson admitted she hadn't realised just how accessible the documentary was for viewers to watch. When questioned whether Channel 4 had erred in airing the programme and if Ofcom ought to step in, she responded: "That's an important question that I think is worth considering."
She continued: "I am very happy to go away and consider that.". The spokesman said: "I haven't actually clicked on in the way that you suggested is available.". The spokesman said: "But I'm very happy to do that and to look and to raise it with the technology secretary Peter Kyle."
Fresh legislation called the Online Safety Act came into force last week, aimed at safeguarding youngsters on the internet by establishing fresh regulations for social media platforms and search engines.
The most robust safeguards within the legislation were crafted to stop children from viewing dangerous and unsuitable material. This encompassed age checks for adult websites like YouPorn.
The documentary - titled 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story - tracks the influencer as cameras document her everyday existence. The documentary synopsis reveals that it delves 'behind the headlines, clickbait and rage bait to discover what life's really like in Bonnie's wild orbit, how she got here and what's really going on behind those steely blue eyes'.
It also probes the contentious question surrounding her - is she a 'dangerous predator' pandering to male fantasies and perpetuating the patriarchy, or an empowered, sex-positive businesswoman having the last laugh? Audiences were taken aback by the content.
One viewer expressed their shock on Twitter: "Literally 3 seconds in and Bonnie Blue is already disgusting." Before its release, director Victoria Silver emphasised the importance of explicit scenes for the documentary.
She stated: "If I was making a film about a musician or some other kind of performer their work would be in there.". The spokesman said: "I think it's really important to see what she does."
Channel 4's commissioning editor Tim Hancock argued that it was the broadcaster's 'job to tell stories like this that are at the edge of modern morality'.
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