This past Friday, many sex workers and campaigners gathered in front the Houses of Parliament to protest against changes to UK pornography regulations. According to CNN, the new regulations came into force on December 1 and effectively ban various acts being depicted in online pornography produced in the United Kingdom. Supposedly, the bill was enacted in part to protect children from being exposed to potentially harmful content.

Many of the protesters simulated some of the acts being banned, such as "face-sitting," in public. However, in order to spare onlookers they remained fully clothed during what was dubbed the #PornProtest.

Protest organizer Charlotte Rose stated, "These activities were added to this list without the public being made aware," Charlotte Rose said. "They've done this without public knowledge and without public consent... There are activities on that list that may be deemed sexist, but it's not just about sexism, it's about censorship. What the government is doing is taking our personal liberties away without our permissions."

Other critics argue that the new change damages the UK's porn industry, because online viewers will be able to access content banned in the UK by watching videos filmed abroad. Furthermore, it amounts to "arbitrary censorship".

Indeed, it is being viewed as impinging on people's personal liberty - lawyer Miles Jackman stated on his blog, "Pornography is the canary in the coalmine of free speech: it is the first freedom to die. If this assault on liberty is allowed to go unchallenged, other freedoms will fall as a consequence... Free speech is fought on the fringes, and it's the mainstream which is at risk of falling if the fringes aren't protected, so this is a very strong free speech issue."

CNN reports that protestors hoped that the stir they made would help back the case for the new laws to be dropped. As of now, it is unclear as to whether the protests will continue.