I’m going to step away from straight-up chastity topics here for a moment and venture briefly into an area that I generally HATE going into at all: Politics!
There is so much crap going around all over the world lately about various governments trying to censor “objectionable” online content. I have a very bad feeling that there will be even more of this type of thing coming to the forefront here in the U.S. over the coming years, but today’s topic will be specifically for my readers in the United Kingdom.
As far as I can understand, there is a “Digital Economy Bill” currently under consideration in Parliament which includes provisions to force ISP’s to block legal online content depicting sexual acts classified as “non-conventional.” As for what types of activities would fall into that category remains to be seen, but the thing is that what to some may seem “non-conventional & objectionable,” to others are a part of who they are, and everybody should be free to that sort of expression — granted, within normal practiced guidelines of Safe, Sane, and CONSENTUAL. It is of my opinion that as long as nobody is actually being hurt (at least beyond negotiated limits, and outside of maybe some conservatives’ collective egos!) it is not up to governments to try to legislate what types of sexual practices are “acceptable” to engage in and share with like-minded individuals. Apparently besides general content censoring, this bill would even make it much more difficult for community sites such as FetLife to operate in the UK. This would be a big blow to countless individuals who rely on such sites for not only organizing events and such, but also being able to share information/experiences to help everyone practice their myriad of kinks in the safest way possible.
To get to the point of this post, there is a petition floating around that UK residents can sign to try to remove at least the worst of those measures from the bill. I would strongly encourage anybody reading my blog from the UK to consider signing this. But don’t just take my word for it! Do some research, find out exactly what is going on with this bill within your government, and make an informed decision on whether or not you want to add your name to the petition. If I were a resident there, I would sign. And if/(WHEN!) anything similar comes up in the U.S. I will also try my best to make my voice heard, however small & insignificant it may seem. I do believe that everybody should stay at least somewhat informed of what their government is doing, and stay involved when possible. Never doing/saying anything at all pretty much says that you are willing to just roll over and accept anything that is handed down from those who ARE putting themselves out there and getting involved in the process!
The petition can be found at: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/174167
I have no idea how many applicable people I will even reach with this post, but I do know from my stats that outside of the U.S. the United Kingdom is the country with by far the second most views on my blog. I had ~20,000 hits from the UK just last year, and nearly ~35,000 overall since I began writing. That is no insignificant number! And even outside of the UK, everybody else should take notice as well, as precedents like this are sure to carry over to other countries as well!
So as stated in the title here: UK Kinksters Unite! Go out and try your best to stop some of this nonsense before it gets even worse! The rest of us in the world will be watching and supporting you wherever possible!
Again, the petition for your review is located at:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/174167
Thank you!
[Stepping off of soap box]
This bill will pass and parents will believe that their child is safe online. In fact teenagers know far more about the online world than their parents and they will bypass these restrictions. So this bill will leave children more exposed not less as parents continue to abrogate their responsibilities. Unfortunately, and I say this as a Brit, we’ve become very complacent and we don’t really value freedom. We are, afterall, one of the most surveilled nations on the planet. Further attacks can be expected as the current PM has a plan for a Chinese style firewall to protect us from internet content that the govnt disapproves.
Thank you for your input, as a resident there! Yes it’s sad how much of that type of thing people will turn a blind eye to, thinking it won’t affect us too much.. Until suddenly we wake up and realize that all of these small “insignificant” changes have added up to some major liberties being taken away from us. I do rather dread how much more of that may try to get forced through here in the U.S. too under our new administration!
I hope your blog finds its way into many many homes! I understand the fear of allowing 10 year olds access to some content. However adults should be able to do so without fear of repercussions.
Exactly, yes. And there are already parental controls available on pretty much anything, for anyone who chooses to use them to protect their kids from this kind of content.
Great letter, am watching this as well. Big Brother wants to get into our bedrooms and we won’t let him, so he is trying to put a stop to us. I am afraid we are going to facing this here in the States as well sometime in the near future, in fact, in a way we have with FetLife. Sad day at RimRock.