OPINION:
A landmark report has just been released in Britain on pornography and children, and it’s a wake-up call for parents, clergy, lawmakers and anyone else who believes in protecting children from harm.
The report finds that children as young as 6 are being exposed to online pornography. In the words of Dame Rachel de Souza, the British children’s commissioner, “It’s not just any pornography. It is violent, extreme and degrading, often portraying acts that are illegal — or soon will be.”
According to the report, more than 70% of those who responded had seen online porn. Seventy-three percent of boys and 65% of girls had viewed digital pornography. Even more distressingly, 27% had seen porn before they turned 11. Numerous respondents said they saw it at age 6 or younger.
Forty-four percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement, “Girls may say no at first but then can be persuaded to have sex,” and the children who viewed pornography were more likely to agree with this statement. Some 59% said they had found porn by accident, mostly on social media and networking sites, not on pornography sites.
The sites most cited by the respondents where they encountered pornographic material were Snapchat (29%), Instagram (23%), TikTok (22%) and YouTube (15%).
Studies have shown that early exposure to pornographic material rewires the brains, particularly of boys, to become addicts and eventually act out on what they have viewed.
Although this report focuses on children in Britain, our children here are undoubtedly facing a similar scenario.
To its credit, Britain recently started implementing the Online Safety Act to protect children from this horrible material. Unfortunately, here in the States, similar legislation, such as the Kids Online Safety Act, has been stalled despite the impassioned pleas of parents. Social media platforms have spent untold millions of dollars on lobbyists and deals while playing the left and right off each other.
“Despite promises of prioritizing safety, Big Tech has consistently made cuts to trust and safety staff and lobbied against legislation that would help keep kids safe online,” Stephanie Trendell writes on the National Center on Sexual Exploitation website. “Furthermore, they have been spearheading a disinformation campaign on Capitol Hill, attempting to scare lawmakers into believing that passing KOSA would infringe on free speech.”
Why? Because this material is a moneymaker for these companies through ads and videos (often sexualized) featured on their platforms, and they are willing to sacrifice our children’s innocence and long-term mental, emotional and physical health. They even profit from those who engage in what is called “sextortion” of minor children. Meanwhile, our children are being assaulted by the images they are seeing — in most cases, as noted, unsolicited — online.
How does this assault occur? Through algorithms that push harmful content on children who don’t want it, with ads and images showing up in their feeds. What the Kids Online Safety Act would do is not limit speech but instead would require that the platform — whether Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok, to name just a few — could not be designed in a manner that would lead children to indecent or pornographic material.
The Kids Online Safety Act would not hinder free speech for adults who wish to view such material, but it does protect children from it. Although even more steps need to be taken — such as repealing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which has granted legal immunity to social media platforms, allowing them to evade accountability for what they host online — it is a start, and a vital one.
It’s time for us in the United States to sound the alarm about what our children are viewing and take the steps modeled by Britain to limit childhood exposure to illicit material online. Although parents need to continue being extra vigilant about what their children see and read on the internet, we can make their job a bit easier and protect our children from harm by holding social media platforms accountable.
If Britain can do it, so can we, for our children’s and our society’s sake.
• Timothy S. Goeglein is vice president of external and government relations for Focus on the Family. He served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and as a deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.
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