This is more of a 2 part question. Should child porn that does not include a real child be illegal? If so, who is being harmed by it?
The other question is; does giving a pedophile access to “imitation” children give them an outlet for their desire, so they won’t try to engage with real children, or does it just reinforce their desire, thus helping them to rationalize their behavior and lead to them being more encouraged to harm real children?
I’ve heard psychologists discuss both sides, but I don’t think we have any real life studies to go off of because the technology is so new.
I’m just curious what the other thought out there are from people who are more liberty minded.
Y’all seem to have reached an impasse here in the realm of pure morality, so lets try something a little more grounded (and surely less controversial!) Political application. I won’t even slippery slope, I promise.
Lets suppose your favored political party has gained power (however briefly) and is able to push through legislation banning the consumption of any media depicting an immature person in a sexual context, regardless of whether it involved an actual child.
What would enforcement look like? You can’t simply follow the traffickers or CPS reports, as criminals could simply create the media for themselves on a private harddrive (say by drawing a picture or writing erotica) so law enforcement would need some way to investigate any citizen’s home and private spaces for potential contraband.
Do you think that there is a government currently on this planet clear enough of corrupted elements to avoid abusing this power to target their own political enemies?
Good way to move to a more productive area of discussion, but sounds like they just want to block you.
You’re asking me to solve a problem definitely well above my AND your paygrade and you know it. I can provide a few solutions, but they will be neither easy, nor to everyone’s liking. There’s also problem of the diversity of the world - what works for one US’ state, won’t for their neighbor. What may be accepted by one European country, won’t be by their neighbors.
I see no merit in such a discussion, it’s a waste of time.
The question as stated in OP is, in contrast, very straightforward and I’m happy to provide my opinion. Which I did, and am glad to defend.