The Internet has transformed pornography, making it much easier to view and share than it was in the days of Playboy magazine and nightly cable television.
For teens, that has led to a deluge of sexually explicit photos and videos invading their daily lives, according to a report released Tuesday.
Three-quarters of teens have viewed online pornography by age 17, with the average age of first exposure at age 12, according to the report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit child protection organization. Teens see the photos and videos on their smartphones, on their school devices and on social media, porn sites and streaming sites, it said.
The report underlined how ubiquitous pornography has become, with 41 percent of teens saying they had seen images of nudity or sexual acts online during the school day. Much of the exposure was accidental, with 58 percent saying they hadn’t looked up the sexually explicit videos and photos, but had come across them while browsing the web, social media, or through search engines or clicking ads.
Teens are increasingly grappling with the role of technology on their mental health and well-being. In recent years, lawmakers have criticized social media platforms like Instagram for exacerbating eating disorders and investigated how the sites have been used to sell illegal substances such as fentanyl-laced drugs to adolescents.
The effect of online pornography on teens is less researched, but parents and politicians are engaged in fierce debates over tech safety and whether discussions about pornography should take place at school or at home. Last fall, Idaho sex education classes were falsely portrayed in posts and an article as advertising pornography. Tweets linking to the bogus report sparked online outrage and were mentioned on Fox News. In Louisiana, a new law requires age verification for porn sites.
“We can’t sweep this topic under the rug just because it’s uncomfortable to talk about,” said Jim Steyer, the founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, who plans to present the report to officials in the White House this week. Home and on federal agencies. “Pornography is a huge part of the lives of kids who have digital access like never before, and we need to have a national conversation about it.”
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Part of the problem is that online pornography is a very lucrative industry, giving it a foothold. While there is little data on the size of the online porn industry, an estimate by Alec Helmy, the founder of trade publication XBIZ, which researches payment processors, puts revenue for adult influencers and platforms at at least $15 billion by 2022. He estimated revenue from Internet pornography was $5 billion in 2012.
In recent years, online pornography has evolved into a business where thousands of people have their own streaming, texting and photo channels promoted on sites like Instagram and hosted on platforms like OnlyFans and PornHub, Mr. Helmy said.
Common Sense’s report was based on a September survey of 1,358 Americans ages 13 to 17. More than half said they had seen pornography of violent acts such as rape, choking, or someone being in pain. A majority said the pornography portrayed stereotypes of black, Latino and Asian people. More than half said they felt guilty or ashamed after watching porn.
At the same time, 45 percent said the pornography provided useful information about sex. LGBTQ teens in particular said it helped them discover more about their sexuality.
“We have to be careful about saying all porn is good or bad,” says Emily Rothman, a health sciences professor at Boston University. “There’s nuance here.”
Schools, parents and political leaders disagree on how to approach the issue. David Miyashiro, the superintendent of the Cajon Valley Union School District in the San Diego area, said he had conducted technical and safety workshops and discussions for parents, but had not directly discussed pornography in any of those sessions. The Middle Eastern refugee community and conservative Christians have expressed displeasure with the district’s sex education, he said.
The devices students are allowed to take home have filtering software, he said, that runs through district servers to block access to pornographic sites and alert school officials to searches for explicit and harmful content.
“Sexual health and sex education are areas that are very family-specific,” said Mr. Miyashiro. “A widespread policy or position will sometimes isolate people and may create enemies or friends.”
Shelly Viramontez, the superintendent of the Campbell Union School District near San Jose, California, said problems are also emerging with personal phones that children bring to school. Her district has taken disciplinary action against sexualized behavior that she and counselors believe is linked to increased exposure to pornography.
“This generation of parents is dealing with things that no other generation has had to deal with — the amount of access to information in children’s hands,” said Dr. Viramontez.
In the Common Sense survey, teens said much of the content they saw was disturbing. Only one in three said the pornography featured someone asking for consent before engaging in sexual activity. Less than half said they discussed pornography with a trusted adult. Of those who did, “the conversation encouraged them to think about ways to explore sex or sexuality other than porn,” the report said.
Teens who intentionally searched for pornography said their main sources were sites like PornHub and YouPorn. Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit and other social media sites came in second as sources of pornography.
Instagram, Snap and TikTok ban sexually explicit material. But the sites have been used for promotions linking to porn sites. They also deter individuals from directing users to pornography on other platforms.
In December, YouTube banned PornHub’s channel for repeated violations of its policy that prohibits links to websites that violate YouTube’s Community Guidelines, such as pornography. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has a similar ban on external links, saying its algorithms are designed to limit the spread of sexually explicit content.
A YouTube spokesperson said the policy was to “strictly prohibit the posting of explicit content, such as pornography, that is intended to be sexually satisfying on our platform.” Meta said Facebook and Instagram had controls that automatically made it harder for teens to search for and find sexually suggestive content.
TikTok said it did not allow sexually suggestive content in its “For You” feeds and was blocking inappropriate searches and hashtags. “We continue to invest in safe and age-appropriate experiences for teens through robust policies, parental controls and technology to counter this content at scale,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
Reddit declined to comment on the report, but said it did not have a strict ban on adult content. The app is aimed more at older users and has a suggested minimum age of 17. Users under the age of 17 who participate in group discussions with adult content will be banned from the app, per company policy.
Snap said it banned accounts promoting sexually explicit content and was “constantly improving our efforts to combat it”. Content from creators and publishers is moderated before the general public can view it, reducing the proliferation and discovery of content that violates our policies, Snap said.
PornHub did not respond to a request for comment.
Teachers and parents said they couldn’t trust the tech companies to block the content.
“You can’t blame technology and not have these conversations with kids,” said Dr. Viramontez.
