Legislation on
pornography
Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, in Italy states that it is illegal to distribute pictoral or video pornography to persons under the age of 18.
Legal status
The legal status of pornography itself is disputed in Italy. Technically, all production and distribution of pornography in the country is forbidden per Articles 528, 529, and 725 of the Italian Penal Code, which respectively sanction as felonies "''Obscene publications and shows''", "''Obscene activities and objects''", and "''Commerce of publications, images or other objects offending public decency''". In the 1980s, several courts in Italy enforced these laws, ordering confiscation of pornographic material in
their jurisdictions.
A new, more permissive interpretation of the law was introduced in the late 1980s as courts ruled that the Penal Code should be seen as protecting citizens' rights to not be exposed to such materials ''if and when they don't wish to be''. Thus, pornography was not to be considered
illegal ''per se'', unless someone were to expose such materials to another against the latter's own will.
Providing or exposing pornography to minors under the age of 18 remains strictly forbidden. Other forbidden porn material includes child porn and
Snuff porn; contrary to common belief,
zoophilia is not illegal, nor is
BDSM
BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...
or
fetishism
A fetish (derived from the French , which comes from the Portuguese , and this in turn from Latin , 'artificial' and , 'to make') is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over oth ...
, though other types of acts such as
necrophilia
Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving Cadaver, corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) ...
are. Most of these extreme practices, though, take place in
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
s, which are not covered by statute, rather than strictly pornographic fare.
Despite the recent trend toward legalization of porn, distribution of pornographic video materials is almost totally restricted to the home video market. Relevant laws #23 of 6 August 1990 and #203 of 30 May 1995 forbid the broadcast of hardcore pornography on
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
television channels, while such is legal on scrambled channels including
digital terrestrial television and
satellite television
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
.
Access to these channels and networks, many of which are
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
, requires a subscription and an
IRD IRD or Ird may refer to the following:
* Ird (Bedouin), a Bedouin honor code for women
* Ird, alternate name of Arad, Iran, a city in Fars Province
* Ishwardi Airport (IATA airport code)
* Kaarel Ird (1909–1986), Estonian theatre leader, director ...
, which normally features a
parental control function to restrict access to given channels. It remains legal to broadcast erotic/softcore movies, videos and infomercials on unencrypted TV channels from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
By law, the seller is required to ask for
proof of age
An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID card, citizen ca ...
if he suspects the buyer to be under the legal age for purchasing pornography. This restriction does not apply to softcore magazines.
Pornographic material depicting actors under the age of 18 is classified as child pornography, and is strictly forbidden. Minors cannot give legal consent to appear in pornographic productions of any kind, even though the
age of consent in Italy varies from 14 to 16 years.
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