Conduct offensive to public decency includes the publication of indecent literature; behaviour considered as indecent (such as forms of sexual deviation); acts of profanity or in bad taste, such as sick jokes and possibly black comedy; as well as pornography of various kinds. Secular or church-related viewpoints of decency may lead to expectations that publishers, film and theatre directors, and television and radio broadcasters would act as censors, and failing to do so they would be held responsible for undeleted expletives and other offences.
Obscenity may also be perceived as including war crimes and torture, and certain highly sophisticated and devastating weapons.
Since obscenity is a subjective term, its application varies according to the moral customs and standards of different countries, according to prevailing opinion. The tolerance of certain forms of sexual deviation has increased in the so-called permissive society of western industrialized countries. Violence for pleasure is a problem in urbanized areas, especially among young people.