STUPID, MORALISTIC TEA PARTY REPUBLICANS . . . OH, WAIT: U.K. Censors Online Porn; Spanking, Rough Sex, Other Assorted Kink Banned.

Continuing on its recent censorship-happy path, the U.K. government amended regulations this week to prohibit online porn from depicting a variety of erotic activities. Now-illicit acts range from the very specific (female ejaculation; “spanking, caning, and whipping beyond a gentle level”) to the incredibly broad (“verbal abuse”). But basically, the U.K. has banned BDSM and certain forms of fetish porn—or at least, charging money for that sort of porn. . . .

This comes in the wake of increasing action from the U.K. government (as well elsewhere in the European Union) toward censoring the Internet. The more I read about things like this latest round of U.K. porn censorship or the Europe Union’s new “right to be forgotten”, the more I do stop and appreciate the speech protections we have in the U.S., even if those are ever under-attack from over-zealous politicians and culture warriors.

Indeed. Apparently, though, much of the impetus for this censorship came from feminists.