In the UK, a bill has been proposed to regulate ownership of pornography and criminalize ownership of adult materials that depict violence. The proposed bill has stirred an opposition from anti-censorship groups that feel it would be an infringement on free expression.

If the bill goes through, it will ban any materials depicting “an act which results or appears to result (or be likely to result) in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals.” Anti-censorship groups are concerned with what impact this bill may have on bondage and S&M groups and how its passing may limit their freedom in acting out sexual fantasies. Within these groups, certain fantasies are depicted safely and by consenting adults but would be banned under the bill.

The bill was first proposed following the murder of teacher Jane Longhurst. Following the crime, Longhurst's mother began circulating a petition to remove materials containing violent sexual imagery from the sex market and make their ownership a criminal act. The petition acquired 50,000 signatures and has spawned the bill proposal, as well as the argument of whether possession of these materials is really connected to acts of violence.

Dr. Megan Barker, senior lecturer in psychology at London's South Bank University, relates the petition against these materials to incidents throughout history where violence is connected to media or entertainment. Dr. Barker uses these references to decry the blame being placed on these pornographic materials and feels there is no relationship that is resulting in violence.

“Time and time again, research has challenged the simple cause-effect relationship between exposure to such media and violent behavior. But it is an easy scapegoat in a society that does not want to look at the more complex and insidious reasons for crime and violence,” stated Dr. Barker.