Latest news with #graphiccontent
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
The fight to protect our children from pornography must go on
A teenager sits on his bed, his mobile phone in his hands. He's chatting with his friend, exchanging quickfire messages, when something pops up on his screen he doesn't recognise. He clicks on it, curious. He's never seen anything like it before. Are those real people? What's happening to that woman? He clicks again, disturbed but fascinated. And again. And again. More images, graphic, extreme, and violent, fill his screen. He's scared, but he knows his friend will ask him what he thought. He doesn't want to look silly. His friend says this is what women expect of men. So, he keeps watching, repulsed – but irreversibly hooked. Just a few months ago, that depressing scene was not a figment of the imagination. It was the dark reality of children spending time online – more than half of whom have reported seeing pornography accidentally. The situation was at rock bottom. The job of creating a safer online world is only just beginning in earnest, with the Online Safety Act taking effect last month – the biggest step change in the interests of child safety since the internet began. For some children, the change already comes too late. they have grown up online, and for years they have been telling decision makers, the adults in charge, about what they are seeing, how it makes them feel and how hard it is to get rid of. Collectively, we as a society owe them an apology. We failed to get a grip on the risks, leaving an entire generation of children to grow up with the full spectrum of the internet available to them – but without any protection. That is the generation represented in new research on children's exposure to pornography. 16 to 21-year-olds, those entering adulthood, who have witnessed some of the worst of human nature played out at the swipe of a screen. Most of them had seen content containing scenes of rape, or violent acts like strangulation depicted in pornography while they were still children. More often than not, they have not been seeking it. Nearly half of them (44 per cent) agreed with the statement 'girls may say no at first but can be persuaded to have sex'. Girls were more likely to agree with it than boys were. How can we even begin to imagine the long-term impact of this extreme sexual violence being so easily accessible? Some have tried to dismiss these very real dangers online as 'just a bit of fun'. They say pornography isn't real. It's actors, acting. It's a way of making money. But to the 11-year-old who stumbles across it, it can be life-altering. It could be the difference between that child becoming an adult surrounded by respectful, loving relationships – or, in the worst possible cases, not making it to adulthood at all. If ever we needed the evidence to confidently call out critics of online regulation, it is this: our children are telling us they are so influenced by things they were able to see online freely, that it has changed how they think about each other. If we are serious about getting a grip on the scourge of violence against women and girls – and protecting our children from ideas that present this as acceptable, or even as entertainment – we must start here. Even the best education, the closest thing we have to a silver bullet, can only go so far in countering these dangerous, damaging views if we don't act. There is a generation of parents and carers anxious and overwhelmed by the burden of imposing boundaries on technology they don't fully understand – some of whom may have experienced the absolute worst consequences of a lawless internet. It is them, and their children, who must be at the heart of this continued mission. We owe it to them – and we are on their side by making it easier for them to be more protected than ever before. The Online Safety Act will make it extremely difficult for that content to make its way into their feeds. The new laws introduced last month now require tech platforms to withhold harmful content from children on their sites, including pornography. Users must now provide proof they are over 18, and sites must make it easier for them to report content, crucially without having to watch it first if it appears on their feed. Our shared mission is for no child to ever lose themselves, or any of their precious childhood, to the grip of harmful things online. Early signs give us both confidence that this mission is on target. Over 6,000 websites are now using age verification technology. Traffic to the biggest pornography sites dropped sharply in the days following the rule change and Ofcom acted quickly to begin enforcement action against sites not complying. We accept that in a tech environment that innovates so rapidly, this is never job done. There needs to be a lot of flexibility in this so that we can adapt. But we will also need to be on our toes; as a government, as regulators, and as advocates for children. Bold change of this scale is not always easy nor comfortable. But society has always protected children from harms in the offline world, from the introduction of seatbelts to limits on the sale of alcohol and tobacco. Our children deserve to grow up with curiosity and confidence, not fear and manipulation. Just as past generations fought new battles to keep their children safe, this is ours. The Online Safety Act is not the end of that fight but the beginning - a foundation to build on as risks evolve. No one can reasonably argue against keeping children safe online, just as we do offline. That is why we make no apology for putting young people's safety first.
CTV News
27-05-2025
- CTV News
Alberta creating guidelines around school library books
Edmonton Watch The province is creating guidelines for school libraries after it says books with graphic sexual content were found in schools. CTV News Edmonton's Nicole Weisberg reports.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alberta to implement new rules after 'sexually explicit' content found in books at schools in Edmonton, Calgary
Alberta intends to implement new rules this fall after books were found in school libraries across the province containing 'graphic sexual content.' At a press conference on Thursday, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the move came after the province investigated multiple books circulating in K-9 schools and high schools in both Edmonton and Calgary that contain 'sexually explicit' content. The province provided media with examples from four graphic coming-of-age novels depicting sexual LGBTQ+ content and explicit sexual language. 'I just want to be very clear that we're talking about extremely graphic depictions of sexual acts,' Nicolaides said. 'We're not talking of books that say that another individual likes another person or something of that nature. But these are extremely graphic depictions of molestation, self-harm, suicide and oral sex… I don't think a minor should be viewing this type of material.' The province is conducting an online survey to collect feedback to create 'consistent standards' to ensure the 'age-appropriateness' of materials available to students in school libraries. Nicolaides said the province aims to implement the new rules by September. More to come. ctran@ X:@kccindytran Alberta to allocate $100M over three years to fund collegiate and dual-credit programs Alberta to fund 14 additional school projects in Edmonton area as utilization rates skyrocket across school boards Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Nineties TV episode 'banned from screens for three years' for harrowing child murder scene is now available on Disney+ in major U-turn
A nineties TV episode that was banned from screens for three years for a harrowing child murder scene is now available on Disney+ in a major U-turn. An instalment of sci-fi series The X-Files was removed from reruns of the show on its original channel Fox, after just one repeat broadcast three years after its release. The X-Files, which ran from 1993 to 2002, starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI investigators Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, tackling paranormal activity cases across the US. Episode two of series four, first aired in October 1996, was the first from the cult nineties show to be given a viewer discretion warning for graphic content - with the next one not until four years later, for season eight episode Via Negativa. Certain American channels still will not show the episode in reruns of the show, Metro reports - and the years-long absence left fans anxiously waiting to be able to watch it again. But in a major about turn, the episode is now available on Disney+, along with other on-demand platforms like Channel 4 - and it has a new generation of fans talking about and watching the programme in full. The second episode of the fourth series, called Home, saw detectives Mulder and Scully looking into the death of a baby born with severe physical deformities. The duo travel to the small countryside village of Home in Pennsylvania, where they find the Peacocks, a farmer family who all bear physical defects. The investigators initially believe the family to have kidnapped and raped an innocent woman, who then gave birth to the baby whose death they were there to investigate. But the truth turns out to be even darker and more horrifying - Mulder and Scully discover the Peacocks buried the baby alive after it was born. Not only that, they find out it was the result of inbreeding - which the family have been doing for years. Even some of the show's producers said the storyline of this episode - co-written by X-Files writing partners James Wong and Glen Morgan and directed by show regular Kim Manners - went 'too far'. And singer Johnny Mathis, whose song Wonderful! Wonderful! was set to feature in its soundtrack, refused to allow it to be used after discovering how graphic the screenplay was. One of the episode's co-writers, James Wong, told the New York Times in 2015 he was surprised at the retaliation against what he saw as 'straightforward X-Files'. He said: 'We didn't think we were pushing the envelope of taste in the way people seem to ascribe to us. 'We thought this was the most down-the-middle, straightforward of all [the episodes we wrote].' But debates about whether the episode is tasteful are still raging, with diehard X-Files fans claiming even the version of it on streaming platforms is edited. They maintain only certain old DVD copies of the fourth season show episode two in full, with the full birthing scene that opens it. The editing possibly comes with good reason - pop culture commentary website Den Of Geek ranked Home the scariest ever X-Files episode. The site said: 'It's the disturbing nature of it that sticks in the mind... 'There's just something about how this episode came together that pushed everything up a notch. 'The result was an hour that so rattled the people who watched it, it got a viewer discretion warning and a TV mature audience rating.' The Reddit thread (pictured) set up for fans to discuss the episode also emphasises how uncomfortable it is that such a dark episode contains so much humour The Reddit thread set up for fans to discuss the episode also emphasises how uncomfortable it is that such a dark episode contains so much humour. One user said: 'The episode does have a few jokes which clash oddly against the grim subject matter.' Another added: 'A lot of the "wisecracks" aren't at all appropriate to the subject matter (and were even worse in some deleted scenes).' Experts on the show have also noted fans' discomfort with the use of humour in what they dub the show's 'darkest episode'. In their Complete Critical Companion to The X-Files, Zack Handlen and Todd Van Der Werff write of the episode: 'Two touches set Home apart from other episodes. One is Morgan and Wong's sense of grim humor. 'One of the common fan complaints against the episode when it first aired was that Mulder and Scully's jokes destroyed any mood the episode had built up to that point.' But they argue the humour is just the detectives' way of coping with the grim nature of the situation - rather than necessarily a mark of flippancy. They continue: 'Mulder and Scully stare directly into the face of awful, awful things and find a way to keep going.' But they argue the humour is just the detectives' way of coping with the grim nature of the situation - rather than necessarily a mark of flippancy The writers also see the instances of humour as 'tension-breaking moments' - to help the viewer cope with the dark subject matter. With the series available in full to stream, added to Disney+ as of 2021, fans can now decide for themselves what they think. The X-Files was hugely popular upon its release in the nineties, receiving rave reviews and enjoying a captive audience of 20million at its peak. Two revival series, the tenth and eleven seasons of the show, were released in 2016 and 2018 respectively, to a mixed audience and critical reception. American director Ryan Coogler, known for his work on Marvel's Black Panther series, is now said to be developing a third revival series. He was first reported to be working on the project in 2023 when the show's original creator Chris Carter said Ryan would 'remount the X-Files with a diverse cast'. Last month, Ryan confirmed this would soon be a priority for him during a podcast interview with The Last Podcast On The Left: 'I've been excited about that for a long time and I'm fired up to get back to it.' He said the reboot was 'immediately next' on his list: 'We're going to try to make something really great, bro, and really be something for the real X-Files fans and maybe find some new ones.' Lead actress Gillian Anderson teased her return to the show on This Morning last week (pictured), during an interview for new film The Salt Path Lead actress Gillian Anderson teased her return to the show on This Morning last week, during an interview for new film The Salt Path. She said on the ITV chat show: 'I spoke to [Ryan] and what I said was, "If anyone were to do it, I think you are the perfect person and best of luck"', adding she told the director, 'Call me'. She continued: 'At some point, if the phone rings and it's good and it feels like the right time, perhaps.'
