UK may ban viewing of violent internet pornography

LONDON - Viewing violent pornographic images on the Internet could become illegal in Britain under proposals issued by the government on Tuesday.

"We are talking about material of the most serious and extreme kind: serious sexual violence, bestiality, necrophilia," said junior Home Office minister Paul Goggins.

"These are extreme images, they have no place in a decent society and we believe it's the responsibility of government to make sure the possession of this material is made illegal," he told BBC radio.

UK-based websites are already banned from publishing such material but foreign websites fall outside the legislation.

"Anyone who accessed these images would be guilty of an offence punishable by up to three years in prison," Goggins said.

The proposals follow a campaign to block the viewing of such material in the UK by the family of Jane Longhurst, a 31-year-old teacher, who was murdered in 2003 by a man obsessed with viewing necrophilia websites.

- REUTERS