Vice Report Eviscerates UK MP's Anti-Porn Propaganda Report

Vice Report Eviscerates UK MP's Anti-Porn Propaganda Report

LONDON — Vice this week published an article criticizing a report by the U.K.’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Commercial Sexual Exploitation (APPG-CSE), which repeated anti-porn myths and recommended a state crackdown on sexual expression online.

As XBIZ reported, the content and phrasing of APPG-CSE’s report “Pornography regulation: The case for Parliamentary reform” is identical to the talking points of religiously inspired anti-porn lobbies and crusading groups such as NCOSE and Exodus Cry in the U.S.

Vice’s Sophia Smith Galer noted that the report encouraged parliament to treat all pornography “as commercial sexual exploitation in law and policy,” even though the small group of politicians behind it, led by pro-censorship MP Dame Diana Johnson (Labour, Kingston upon Hull North) only consulted “leading figures in the U.S. Christian anti-porn lobby but no sex workers.”

The U.K. Parliament's official website describes all-party parliamentary groups such as APPG-CSE as “informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament. They are run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords, though many choose to involve individuals and organizations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities.”

Unlike the U.S., the U.K. has no written constitution or explicit freedom of speech protections similar to the First Amendment.

The Shadow of Prominent U.S. Anti-Porn Crusaders

Dr. Carolina Are, an innovation fellow at the Centre for Digital Citizens at Northumbria University and an expert on online discrimination against sex workers, told Vice, “It’s concerning to see that quite a lot of the witnesses that have taken part in the inquiry, and as a result the report, are the people with known anti-porn views and to balance that out it doesn’t seem that the committee has actually invited sex workers to speak and who make a living with this kind of work.”

Johnson’s group, Vice noted, “heard from prominent figures in anti-porn advocacy, such as Dr Gail Dines, and figures associated with the Christian-backed anti-porn lobby in the U.S.” such as Laila Mickelwait.

Mickelwait’s Traffickinghub was described by Vice as “a campaign run by Exodus Cry, a US-based Christian non-profit that calls for the abolition of the sex industry in the name of protecting trafficking victims.”

Most egregiously, APPG-CSE’s report was notably influenced by NCOSE VP Haley McNamara. NCOSE “has been a powerful force in persuading 17 US states to write resolutions calling porn a ‘public health crisis,’” Vice’s Smith Galer explained. “The organization has also campaigned against same-sex marriage and comprehensive sex education in the US previously, and used to work under the name Morality in Media, after it was founded by a group of clergymen.”

Dr Fiona Vera-Gray, the deputy director of London Metropolitan University’s Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, told Vic,e “The ways in which the debate being framed in terms of ‘all porn is bad’ or on the other side ‘all porn is good’ just works to shut women who use porn or make porn down. It actually makes it harder for us to have the conversations we need about where there is agreement and what can be done. It’s a thorny, messy area and we need to get better at representing that complexity.”

Associate Professor Joshua Grubbs at Bowling Green State University added that none of the research cited in the pro-censorship report is fully conclusive, and that the inquiry “clearly (and seemingly intentionally) ignored research contradicting what appears to be their predetermined conclusions.”

British Christian Groups Actively Lobbying Parliament

Smith Galer’s article also highlighted the degree to which British Christian advocacy groups have been active in lobbying Parliament on the issue of pornography in the past year.

Anti-abortion lobby Christian Action Research and Education and CEASE UK, Vice reported, “hosted an event on ‘the harms of porn’ for MPs in Westminster with Tim Farron MP and the Naked Truth Project, an initiative run by a church in the north of England which says they work ‘to open eyes & free lives from the damaging impact of porn.’”

CEASE UK’s campaigns are explicitly aligned with Mickelwait’s crusades and “porn addiction” propaganda by the Utah-based organization Fight the New Drug.

To read “All Porn Is Exploitation, UK Inquiry Concludes Without Speaking to Any Sex Workers,” visit Vice.com.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

North Carolina Passes Extreme Bill Targeting Adult Sites

The North Carolina state legislature this week ratified a bill that would impose new regulations that industry observers have warned could push adult websites and platforms to ban most adult creators and content.

Supreme Court Ruling Due Friday in FSC v. Paxton AV Case

The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Friday in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the adult industry trade association's challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law, HB 1181.

Ofcom: More Porn Providers Commit to Age Assurance Measures

A number of adult content providers operating in the U.K. have confirmed that they plan to introduce age checks in compliance with the Online Safety Act by the July 25 deadline, according to U.K. media regulator Ofcom.

Aylo Says It Will Comply With UK Age Assurance Requirements

Tech and media company Aylo, which owns various adult properties including Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube, plans to introduce age assurance methods in the United Kingdom that satisfy government rules under the Online Safety Act, the company has announced.

Kyrgyzstan Parliament Approves Measure Outlawing Internet Porn

The Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday passed legislation outlawing online adult content in the country.

Trial Set for Lawsuit by U Wisconsin Professor Fired Over Adult Content

A trial date of June 22, 2026, has been set for the civil lawsuit filed by veteran communications professor Joe Gow against the University of Wisconsin board of regents, which fired him for creating and appearing in adult content.

New UK Task Force Meets to Target Adult Content

The architect of an influential report that recommended banning adult content deemed “degrading, violent and misogynistic” has convened an “Independent Pornography Review task force” aimed at translating that report’s findings into action in the U.K.

11:11 Creations Launches Affiliate Program

11:11 Creations principal Alicia Silver has launched 11:11 Cash for creators and affiliates.

Pineapple Support, Pornhub to Host 'Self Love' Support Group

Pineapple Support and Pornhub are hosting a free online support group for performers to develop self-love.

Paysite 'RealGirlsFuck' Relaunches as 'Taboolu.com'

Producer/performer Josh Lewis has relaunched his paysite, RealGirlsFuck, as Taboolu.com.

Show More