Recommendation 1981 (2011) Final version

Violent and extreme pornography

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Assembly debate on 5 October 2011 (32nd and 33rd Sittings) (see Doc. 12719, report of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, rapporteur: Mr Stuligrosz). Text adopted by the Assembly on 5 October 2011 (33rd Sitting).

1. Recalling its Resolution 1835 (2011) on violent and extreme pornography, the Parliamentary Assembly reiterates its concern at the public’s increased accessibility, especially via the Internet, to violent and extreme pornographic material.

2. Taking into account the Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation Rec(2001)8 on self-regulation concerning cyber content (self-regulation and user protection against illegal or harmful content on new communications and information services), the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers ask the appropriate bodies of the Council of Europe to carry out a comparative study on the law and regulations applying to forms of violent and extreme pornography in member states and, on this basis, consider whether there is scope for a more harmonised approach, in particular as regards responses to the distribution of violent and extreme pornographic material on the Internet.

3. Furthermore, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers ask the Executive Council of the European Audiovisual Observatory to ask the observatory to conduct a study on the feasibility of a common system of classification and content descriptors, in order to label the content of audiovisual works.