news, national

Japanese manga and anime depicting child sexual abuse would be banned from Australian shelves under a crossbench senator's plan. Centre Alliance's Stirling Griff will move a motion on Wednesday calling for the urgent ban as he ramps up criticism of the classification board for rating controversial anime. The South Australian senator used a speech to parliament to highlight anime and manga depicting child exploitation. "There is, unfortunately, a dark side and a disgusting side to anime and manga, with a significant proportion of the two media featuring child abuse material," he told the Senate. "They contain depictions of wide-eyed children, usually in school uniforms, engaged in explicit sexual activities and poses, and often being sexually abused." Japanese law exempts manga and anime from exploitation laws because the images do not depict real children. In Australia, the production, possession and distribution of abuse material depicting a representation of a person who appears to be under 18 is illegal. Experts have warned explicit anime and manga can be used by paedophiles as tools to groom children and act as a gateway to the abuse of real children. Senator Griff said despite local laws, there were a number of anime series that had received M and MA15+ ratings from the classification board. "The classification board appears to be making decisions in isolation to criminal law. This must stop," he said. He said the worst series was Eromanga Sensei, which is about a 12-year-old girl who draws pornographic manga while her 15-year-old brother writes the stories. "The series also heavily features incest themes and many scenes are so disturbing I just won't, I just can't, describe them," Senator Griff said. The South Australian senator has written to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher about the issue. Senator Griff wants an immediate review of all Japanese anime movies currently accessible in Australia. Australian Associated Press

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/7c604629-ee62-4807-866b-d4a968549a32.jpg/r0_74_800_526_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg