Television: Pornography
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that television documentaries that contain pornographic scenes are (a) censored and (b) blocked.
Answered by Ian Murray
Broadcast regulation is a matter for the independent regulator Ofcom. The Broadcasting Code prohibits material equivalent to the British Board of Film Classification R18-rating. Adult sex material, as defined by Ofcom, must not be broadcast at any time other than between 10pm and 5.30am on channels with mandatory restricted access, such as requiring a PIN.
Broadcasters must ensure that material broadcast after the 9pm watershed, which contains images and/or language of a strong or explicit sexual nature, but is not ‘adult sex material’, is justified by the context. Representations of sexual intercourse must not occur before the watershed, unless there is a serious educational purpose.
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