World Sex Sells News

The Australian government has recently released a report into Australia's national classification regulation, which is likely to have a significant impact on the laws regarding pornography across the nation.

Currently Australia does allow for the classification of hardcore porn as X18+ for video and Category 2 Restricted for magazines. However its has more restrictions in play than most of the free world. One particular restriction that was discussed in the report is that fetish material is banned outright and that dramatic violence is also banned outright even if it is nothing to do with the sex content. (Eg a pirate film with sword fights above deck and totally separate sexual exploits below deck).

Even if a pornographic publication or film is able to get classified in Australia, there are significant restrictions on where that media can be sold or exhibited.

Category 1 (softcore) and Category 2 (hardcore) restricted publications are able to be sold in all States and Territories except for Queensland, but must only be sold in age-restricted sections of premises, in packaging which conceals their content.

X 18+ classified films can only be sold or exhibited in the ACT or the Northern Territory. It is therefore a criminal offence to sell or exhibit X 18+ films throughout most of Australia.  

The recently released report into national classification regulation suggests a number of key reforms when it comes to pornography. This includes:

• The removal of prohibitions on "fetishes" in Category 2 (restricted) publications and X 18+ films as long as they are not illegal .
• The removal of prohibitions on violence in sexually explicit films, if the violence is not related to sexual activity.
• Limits the need to classify sexually explicit films to films which are professionally produced, directed at an Australian audience and distributed for commercial purposes. This means that many "amateur" forms of pornography no longer need to be classified.

Any such reform to Australia's classification guidelines will require cooperation and agreement from each State and Territory and is likely to be a gradual process.

Arbitrary screwing of sole traders and small businesses by financial institutions is a longstanding problem in AUstralia.

Now Australia's banks have doubled down on the reasons they believe they should not be required to tell customers or potential customers why they can't have basic banking services. In most cases this is because the bank doesn't approve of several types of industry seemingly on the basis or morality.

According to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, such businesses include cryptocurrency traders, brothels, individual sex workers and sex shops, tattoo parlours and precious metal traders. Cases have also been reported among firearms dealers, vaping retailers, mining companies and the agriculture and farming sector.

A typical example was high-profile Sydney escort, Samantha X, who last year reported her long-standing account with ING had been shut down. When she asked for an explanation, she said she was told: We can't tell you why sorry, it is a business decision.

The ongoing issue was highlighted a year ago by independent reviewer Mike Callaghan, who was commissioned by the Australian Banking Association (ABA) to conduct the three-yearly review of the banking industry's code of conduct. Callaghan rebuked the banks for what he called blanket denial of services seemingly with regard to the customer's occupation on the basis that they are concerned the AUSTRAC anti-money laundering provisions may come into play.

The ABA's blunt response appears to be: No, we won't agree to change our practices, or tell businesses or individuals why they have had financial services denied or withdrawn, until we are forced to do so.

Facebook and Instagram will allow transgender and non-binary users to flash their bare breasts -- but women who were born female are still not allowed a similar freedom, according to Meta's advisory board.

Meta's Oversight Board -- an independent body which Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called the company's Supreme Court for content moderation and censorship policies -- ordered Facebook and Instagram to lift a ban on images of topless women for anyone who identifies as transgender or non-binary, meaning they view themselves as neither male or female.

The same image of female-presenting nipples would be prohibited if posted by a cisgender woman but permitted if posted by an individual self-identifying as non-binary, the board noted in its decision.

The board cited a recent decision to overturn a ban on two Instagram posts by a couple that describes themselves as transgender and non-binary that posed topless but covered their nipples -- only to have the post flagged by other users. Meta banned the image, but the couple won their appeal and the photo was restored online.

Meta will rely on human reviewers will now be tasked with trying to determine the sex of breasts.

Visa has quietly released its updated guidelines that address user-uploaded adult content. The good news is: the regulations are very similar to Mastercard regulation AN 5196, Revised Standards for New Specialty Merchant Registration Requirements for Adult Content Merchants, which went into effect back in October 2021.

If companies are compliant with this Mastercard regulation, then they should be in good shape to also comply with the Visa changes.

The new Visa regulation, Visa Rule ID 0003356, is part of the Global Brand Protection Program Guide for Acquirers. It focuses on merchants who allow third-party users to upload or generate content. This includes real-time or livestreaming content produced and shared on social media sites, tube sites, cam sites, adult dating sites and voyeur programs. When it comes to user-uploaded content, the new Visa regulation states there must be consent in writing and it needs to include several things.

First, the merchant must enter into a written agreement with the content provider and the agreement must include that the content does not have any activity that is illegal. Content providers are required to maintain records from all persons depicted in the content and confirm that there was consent given to be depicted. Proof is also needed that consent was given to allow public distribution of the content, including uploading it to the merchant's website. Visa also recommends the use of a third-party provider that specializes in the validation of government identification.

All content must be reviewed prior to publication to ensure that it complies with all applicable laws and Visa rules.

Lastly, if the content is livestreamed, the merchant must have controls in place to manage the content.

See further details in article from xbiz.com