A bill aimed at “securing and regulating the digital space” will soon be examined in the Senate and at the start of the school year in the National Assembly. The HCE wants to “participate in the debate now” by issuing its own recommendations.
In a text that franceinfo was able to consult, the High Council for Equality (HCE) shared on Monday June 5 its recommendations concerning online violence against women and girls, particularly in pornography, “in order to inspire amendments in the government and in Parliament”.
>> Pornography: under-18s spend an average of 49 minutes per month on X-rated sites
The HCE believes that women and girls are the “big omissions from the bill” government aimed at “securing and regulating the digital space”. This text will be examined in the Senate “in the next few days” and at the start of the National Assembly. The HCE therefore estimated “necessary to participate in the debate now” by issuing its own recommendations.
Among these recommendations, the HCE proposes that the skills of the Pharos platform (created so that Internet users can report illegal online content and behavior) be extended. Currently, Pharos may remove, block or de-reference terrorist and child pornography content. The HCE wants the platform to also act on the content “presenting acts of torture and barbarity, inhuman and degrading treatment and rape”.
Expand Pharos platform skills
The High Council for Equality would also like the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom) to also have new skills. “Following reports made by Pharos which would have remained without follow-up”the HCE would like “the Arcom can be seized in order to also control the conformity of the blocking refusals and order Pharos to withdraw, block, or delist”.
Among the other points addressed by the HCE, there is the question of the majority of women appearing in pornographic content. The High Council proposes that “any image, representation of a minor or a person whose physical appearance is that of a minor of a pornographic nature is prohibited” And this, “regardless of the age of the person filmed”. Another proposal, that the “dissemination and hosting of criminal videos presenting in a non-simulated manner, acts of torture and barbarism […] or rape, are illegal and that broadcasters and hosts are subject to heavy financial penalties”.
“We can no longer tolerate that in 2023, when women’s rights constitute for the second time the great cause of the quinquennium, the pornographic industry thrives on hatred and violence against women, in general indifference and the ‘total impunity’, writes the High Council in its text. In September 2023, the High Council for Equality will publish a report on sexist and sexual violence in the porn industry.