Abolish the Dangerous Cartoons Act
From April 6th 2010 it has been illegal to possess “non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse”. (Chapter 2, Coroners and Justice Act 2009) This is a victimless thought crime and should be scrapped. Cartoons are not real people and do not require protection, this law defies common sense.
Why does this matter?
Few rational individuals would argue for the legalization of real child pornography but the addition of cartoons to the remit of illegal child pornography once again promotes the proliferation of victimless thought crime.
Cartoons particularly at risk here are manga and anime, Japanese comics and cartoons. The well known Japanese trend for large eyes, small mouths, high voices, enlarged heads, androgynous body shapes, adolescent gesticulations and the twin cultures of Moé 萌え and Kawaii 可愛い mean that a massive proportion of “cute” protagonists in Japanese illustrated or animated erotica may be perceived by a western audience as underage simply due to the trends and bias of that culture. Japan’s tradition of Ecchi エッチ and Hentai 変態, and particularly in this instance, Lolicon ロリコン and Shotacon ショタコン, plus their mild censorship of explicit works (often tiny censorship boxes over only the very tips of genitals) mean that even mainstream material may potentially be an infringement of this law.
the Dangerous Cartoons Act is the second intervention in five years by UK Government to police possession of pornographic content on the grounds of obscenity and abhorrence rather than evidence of harm. This law may potentially incriminate a far larger proportion of oblivious and otherwise law-abiding internet users than the Dangerous Pictures Act
This law has nothing at all to do with protecting children and everything to do with needless persecution. Prosecuting people for cartoon fantasies is imoral, unjustified and a waste of taxpayers money.
Cartoons do not need protecting from exploitation, thought crimes such as this have no place in a democratic, free society and should be abolished.
Suggested by Luxor131 and tagged freedom, human rights, liberty. Comment. Image source
