Author: Gabriel Persechino-Forest Published: February 17th, 2019
The United Nations is proposing an international initiative that involves all participating nations to tighten restrictions of material they contend sexualizes children, and this restriction extends to animation; in other words, loli.
Here is the text of the relevant section of the proposal:
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Human Rights of the Child (OPSC) – Page 14, Section 56
Child pornography is defined in article 2 OPSC as ‘any representation of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities, regardless of the means used, or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes’. The qualification ‘by whatever means’ reflects the broad range of material available in a variety of media, online and offline. It includes, inter alia: visual material such as photographs, movies, drawings and cartoons; audio representations; any digital media representation; live performances; written materials in print or online; and physical objects such as sculptures, toys, or ornaments.1
The Committee urges States parties to prohibit, by law, child sexual abuse material in any form. The Committee notes that such material is increasingly circulating online, and strongly recommends States parties to ensure that relevant provisions of their Criminal Codes cover all forms of material, including when the acts listed in article 3.1(c) are committed online and including when such material represents realistic representations of non-existing children.
Note: Bold added for emphasis.
According to their proposal, they feel any such material encourages the abuse of children by normalizing the act.
As highlighted by One Angry Gamer, Japanese social media has been on fire over the issue, since it literally threatens to cripple the entire manga and doujin industry as well as seriously damage the anime and video game industry in the country if implemented.
Recently, Reddit and the PS4 both started censoring content they feel “Objectifies children” but their definitions have been so broad and lacking in context that it has been used to crack down on any material they don’t like, even from non-sexual series (See One Angry Gamer link above for more details). The UN proposal also lacks any clarity in defining what constitutes sexualization.
Source: OHCHR and Article Image: Screenshot from the series Haganai