Leo van Doesburg

  In the end of last year, a far-reaching resolution was adopted in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the “Gender Aspects and Human Rights Implications of Pornography”. The resolution was accompanied by a report . The conclusion is clear: pornography and its industry are harmful. In the resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly condemns pornography and calls upon its members to protect human rights and gender equality, to ban public porn advertisement and block porn websites in the workplace and public institutions among others. The accompanying report extensively highlights the connection between pornography and violence against women and human trafficking; and stresses the negative effects on men, women, and particularly young people. Although some critique and concern remain, this resolution and report should put the issue of pornography back on the agenda and start a debate among politicians and policymakers to rethink and reconsider the vision on porn...

  On the 9 th of March, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on ‘foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation’ . Although the issue of foreign interference in EU politics is an important topic, the resolution contains some problematic passages which might have serious consequences for Christians and organizations advocating pro-life and family values. These passages pertain to the depiction of opposing opinions on controversial issues as disinformation and hate speech. Furthermore, the resolution calls for measures against religious institutions when instrumentalized to promote foreign states’ interest. Without proper and irrefutable evidence, this risks to harm religious freedoms. Necessary awareness on these matters is advised.