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Pornography is largely illegal in Africa, with a few exceptions and varying degrees of punishment.
| This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
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Pornography is largely illegal in Africa, with a few exceptions and varying degrees of punishment.
The possession of "indecent and obscene material such as pornographic books, magazines, films, videos, DVDs, Blu-Ray, VHS, and software" is prohibited in Botswana. Possession or import of such material is illegal and punishable by a fine or up to four years imprisonment. [1]
In Egypt, it is illegal to distribute pornography. [2] Possession and access of pornography are not criminalised. [3] Unlike numerous African nations which have no laws against child pornography, Egypt blocks child pornography websites and dealing in child pornography carries a minimum sentence of five years and fines of US$29,000. [4] In 2009 Egypt's Administrative Court ruled that internet pornography should be banned, describing it as "venomous and vile". [5] In 2012 the country's Prosecutor General ordered government ministries to block the websites, and the Administrative Court repeated its order for the Cabinet to block pornographic websites in 2015. [6] However, the cost of blocking large numbers of pornographic websites has prevented the full implementation of the court's ruling. [7] Egypt has the highest viewing figures for pornography in the Middle East according to a survey of access to Pornhub. [8]
Under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, No. 15 or 2018, the publication, viewership, and sharing of pornography is legal in Eswatini only if it passes a three-element test. Pornography is legal if it does not involve any non-consenting persons (including children or those with a significant disability), can be easily traced to its creator, and does not otherwise depict a sexual offense. [9]
Distributing or selling pornographic materials is illegal in Ethiopia, and their production in the country is rare. There are no official laws regarding Internet pornography in Ethiopia, making the Internet the only available source of pornography. [10]
In 2004, Morocco introduced severe punishments for promoting pornography. [11]
Nigeria has no national laws prohibiting pornography, although the public display of graphic sexual material is illegal in Lagos. The country has a small pornography industry which produces exclusively heterosexual pornography, as homosexual activity in Nigeria is illegal. Some Muslim politicians in the national government have proposed a nationwide block on pornographic websites. [12] There is significant piracy of pornography in Nigeria, with pirated pornographic DVDs being sold from roadside stalls in Lagos. [13] Pornography is also sold in Nigerian sex shops and some pornographic magazines are produced in the country, often reproducing pictures from foreign magazines.[ citation needed ]
The first officially acknowledged hardcore pornographic film produced in Nigeria was Better Lover Valentine Sex Party. It was not submitted to the National Film and Video Censors Board for classification and it was immediately banned on the grounds of obscenity and immorality. [14] Internet pornography is widely viewed in Nigeria. In 2015 the monthly average for the number of searches for pornography was 135,000, and in December 2014 and 2015 the proportion of searches for pornography (relative to other searches) was higher in Nigeria than in the United States. In 2013 Nigeria ranked second globally for Internet searches for gay pornography. [15]
Pornography rated X18 is permitted by the law only if sold to persons over the age of 18 in registered stores. It is an offense to host a pornographic web site in South Africa because of the difficulty of age-verification and the requirement that pornography only be distributed from designated, licensed physical premises.[ citation needed ] It is also unlawful to visually represent bestiality (also rated XX), but not in text descriptions.[ citation needed ] Supplying violent pornography is an offence in any form[ citation needed ], but the law allows the production of pornography that is not prohibited.
Distribution of pornography is regulated by the Films and Publications Act of 1996, [16] which is enforced by the Films and Publications Board. [17]
Pornographic DVDs have in the past been sold on the streets in Uganda. [18] However, an Anti-Pornography Act (popularly known as the "Anti-Miniskirt Law") was signed into law in 2014 with the stated objectives of defining what constitutes the offence of pornography and establishing a Pornography Control Committee. [19] The committee is responsible for the implementation of the law and for taking measures to detect, prohibit, collect and destroy pornographic materials. [20] The law broadly defines pornography as "any representation of the sexual parts of a person for primarily sexual excitement". [18] The law says that "a person shall not produce, traffic in, publish, broadcast, procure, import, export, sell or abet any form of pornography". Breaches of the law are punishable with up to ten years in jail. [21]
Prior to the passing of the act there were a number of laws concerning aspects of pornography in Uganda, but this was the first law to create a specific offence of pornography. [22] The law repeals and replaces Section 166 of the Penal Code Act, widening the legal interpretation of pornography and prohibiting it comprehensively. [23] The law has been subject to challenge in the Constitutional Court on the basis of its vague wording and the broad powers of the committee. [24]
In July 2018, the Ugandan government directed the country's ISPs to block 27 pornographic websites. [25]