Hadeel Al-Alosi: The Criminalisation of Fantasy Material: Law and Sexually Explicit Representations of Fictional Children

How do lawmakers balance an interest in uninhibited freedom of expression in art and literature against the goal of protecting children from exploitation? Hadeel Al-Alosi, in her book titled The Criminalisation of Fantasy Material: Law and Sexually Explicit Representations of Fictional Children, provides guidance on this very question insofar as it pertains to purely fictional representations of children. While possession, distribution, and production of child pornography that exploits real children are rightly criminalized in most countries, Al-Alosi provides a narrow analysis of the arguments surrounding criminalization of obscene material representing fictional children. The result of this focus is a work that provides significant utility for a diverse audience composed of academics, students (in both law and undergraduate programs), professors, and anyone with an interest in criminal law, First Amendment law, or fantasy material overall. Ultimately, this empirical analysis strives to neutrally identify any potential harm to real children posed by fictional material, describe the freedom of expression implications that arise from criminalization, and challenge readers’ determinations of whether fictional material can have serious real-world implications. …