LOTS of manga/anime now illegal in Sweden; soon to be in EU

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New legislation on the way, driven by the Swedish imbecile Cecilia Malmström of the EU commission (who, of course, happens to be well-liked):

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/ ... 138_en.htm


This legislation can still be stopped by the EU parliament, but unless people from the various EU member states do not push against it, contacting politicians in charge, it may just be passed, anyway.


It is about this part:

"Child", in this part, means any drawing interpreted to be "below eighteen", like your random character in some random high school shôjo manga, or any other character that just looks to be at most seventeen, in some sort of "sexual" situation. Any girls or guys reading that kind of shôjo manga? Golly, you may soon be considered a pedophile, like I, and many others, already are considered to be, here in Sweden. The same goes for many videogames; especially Japanese ones.


I've had a personal thread of mine in The Haven, about the very similar Swedish legislation, where I have linked to the articles about the Swedish court case. You can find it here, if interested in a few more details, like one of the manga images that have been deemed to be child pornography:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt151648.html




ADDITION:

The preliminary decision from the EU parliament became as follows (excerpts):

- Drawings will be illegal, and that includes drawings that may be "interpreted" as "below eighteen" (as per how it is in Sweden)

- If you, for instance, have a girlfriend or boyfriend that has reached the age of sexual consent in your country, but you are older than him or her by an amount possibly starting from the age of eighteen (it's very unclear), and you photograph your girlfriend or boyfriend in a way that may be "interpreted" as sexual, then that might be illegal and you may end up charged with possession of "child pornography".

- The preliminary decision also states that it will be illegal to dress in a "childish" way and get photographed, if you "give the impression of" being below eighteen. This will be illegal regardless of your real age. Since it's all about impressions, it's up to the courts of every EU country to decide what is "childish" enough - in other words, a girl in pigtails wearing a skirt with Scottish square patterns would be enough, if that'd be the feelings of the court, for that moment.


Source: Piratpartiet (www.piratpartiet.se)


Great news, eh? It's not done, yet, and could still be changed, but it doesn't look too good - especially since the modified version where the above excerpts were taken from was passed by the committee with 40 yes, 0 no and 5 that did not vote.

Last edited by Beauty_pact on 23 Feb 2011, 6:39 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Also note the part right above the anti-manga/anime part that states that any image of a real person that "appears" to be below eighteen is to be illegal. That same sentence means, here in Sweden, that it is illegal for anyone even eighteen and far above that to wear childish clothing, in an image depicting a situation that is "interpreted" to be sexual.

Thought crime is real in Sweden, already. Do what you can to stop it from becoming illegal in the whole of the EU.

I thought Swedes were known for being the most broadminded people in Europe.

I remember watching one of those police shows from America.
A guy made soft porn videos and all the girls were over 18 and had papers to prove it.

But... he was using computer enhancement software that could make them look younger.
You know the software they use to age the picture of a child who has been missing for ten years to show what they would look like now.
He just put it into reverse to make them look younger.

They said that there was no law against doing that.

So did I. But I was wrong - or at least to a big degree. As the years have kept passing, it seems that most of what I've imagined about this country was wrong - then again, the whole world sucks; it's generally just about what place sucks less than others. People are so easy to manipulate... just tell them something in the right way and the majority will buy it, or at least with time... if it is a difficult matter, just start carefully and add to it along the way... people's memories are short and few people will remember how it started out. The only ones who will remember and object will be an "eccentric" minority.


If you do not have the energy to actually contact politicians, at least spread the word about it - now. There is no time to lose - the EU parliament has to feel the pressure.

I don't think your EU cares what the public thinks, they think you're too stupid to know what's best for you.

Damn that sucks ass. I really could care less about the majority of anime but to ban it because a fictional high school kid might be getting some? Ridiculous!

The commission, yes. But the parliament is different. The parliament has many protest parties, such as the Swedish "Piratpartiet" ("The Pirate Party"), that have come into the parliament after dissatisfaction among the people of the EU's member states. During the EU elections, people have a real tendency to dare to vote much more like how they really feel than they'd feel like risking to do during a normal election that is specific to their own country. That may possibly be why the commission seems unsure about if this legislation is going to pass. There is still hope!

However, if this legislation does get passed in the parliament, thought crime will be real in the EU, as well, so do whatever you can to stop this! And do whatever you can now!

Can someone who understands French post about this on some French forum (especially some manga and anime forum)? The French have a lot of anime and legislation like this is unlikely to be appreciated in France. It'd be very helpful if opposition to this grew big in France and you'd really be helping a lot by doing that.

I support the ban. Go Sweden!

Well your obvious defence is debating how "realistic" a Japanese schoolgirl with eyes half the size of her face actually is. Like "Not very".

Having said that, I can't say that it doesn't give me a slight cold shudder that people defend the right to look at school-girls getting tentacle-raped by demons/men/each other. Because that's such a wholesome pastime, obviously, and you aren't at all strange....

Look. The legislation is written the same way in Sweden. In Sweden, it is sufficient with manga- and anime-like images for them to be banned. It's all a matter of "perception", as the court stated. And this has nothing to do with tentacle rape; consenting sex with high schoolers in a shôjo manga will be treated the same way (you probably have no idea what shôjo is, of course - must be about child rape, right?). And even if it is with tentacle rape, it's just drawings. Next time, maybe they'll ban something you like, hmm? And no, I do not like tentacle rape mangas.

I'm not at all weird? Thanks for the compliment, but I do in fact like being seen as weird. Right, a clarification may be in need: that's sarcasm, there, if you did not get it. I'm in fact aware that you see me as weird.

So, a drawing has the same rights as a real child? Is that what you're saying...? Like, for instance, a drawing has the same rights as your own children do? My apologies if you do not have children.

I find such a standpoint to greatly decrease the value of real human beings. I find it to be a kick in the face of the REAL children that have been exposed to sexual assault, for the sake of the creation of REAL child pornography. But maybe your opinion differs from mine?

Nooooooooo! *eyes and mouth goes huge* This cannot be! *jumps in the air while stars fly around in the background, puts fist in front of own face* I shall stop the evil ones making us illegal, and then return to highschool to have fun and romance, and stare at the sunset in the distance for hours!

Okay whomever likes an anime/manga like that has issues...

Didn't they also do this in the UK ages ago? I remember reading some news articles about a similar thing here, and I think they also made porn the government thought was "violent" illegal too.

Freedom? What's that? Censorship, that's the way forward...

My opinion is that people who get pleasure out of looking at sexual images of children, whether real or drawn, are sick in the head. I think that perving over drawn images leads to perving over real images and to real children being abused. I believe it's right and proper that society puts the safety of innocent children before the desires of perverts.