The regulation of internet pornography
What a survey of under‐18s tells us about the necessity for and potential efficacy of emerging legislative approaches
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21837593 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Neil Thurman (0000-0003-3909-9565, City, University of London, corresponding author), Fabian Obster (0000-0002-6951-9869, LMU Klinikum) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 415-432 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Policy & Internet (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1944-2866 • E-ISSN: 1944-2866 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/poi3.250 |
| OpenAlex | W3157107873 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 14 |
In 2017, the UK Parliament passed an Act requiring legal pornographic websites to implement ‘robust’ age verification checks. Although the Act inspired lawmakers elsewhere to propose similar legislation, it was never enacted, in part because it did not cover social media platforms. Instead, the UK government has turned to its Online Harms White Paper—which does target social media platforms—to protect children from online pornography. There is, however, scant evidence on the media platforms and technologies children use to access pornography. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a survey of 16‐ and 17‐year‐olds in the United Kingdom. The results show that more (63%) had seen pornography on social media platforms than on pornographic websites (47%), suggesting the UK government was right to target such platforms in its latest proposals. However, pornography was much more frequently viewed on pornographic websites than on social media, showing how important the regulation of such sites remains. Furthermore, our finding that 46% of 16‐ and 17‐year‐olds had used a virtual private network or Tor browser adds weight to concerns that restrictions on legal internet pornography—such as age verification checks—imposed by a single country may be circumvented by those the restrictions are designed to protect
Advertising · Business · Child pornography · Internet privacy · Legislation · Legislature · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Pornography · Public relations · Social media · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Sex work and related issues · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
Pragmatic Parents
Perceptions of pornography among UK sex education practitioners
Living in media and the era of regulation
Lessons from France on the regulation of Internet pornography
Australian Teen Voices on Age Verification and Age Assurance Measures
‘To say report it, well, it seems a little useless’
The European regulation of porn platforms before and after the Digital Services Act
The (Un)Equal Effect of Binary Socialisation on Adolescents’ Exposure to Pornography
Perceived Realism, Sexual Attitudes, and the Role of Seim
Young People’s Intentional and Unintentional Encounters with Internet Pornography in Australia
Critical young consumers
No evidence that Chinese playtime mandates reduced heavy gaming in one segment of the video games industry
Generalized Linear Models
A Content Analysis of Social Support Messages about Environmental Breast Cancer Risk within Blogs for Mothers
Adolescents and Pornography
The Roles of Individual Characteristics and Liberalism in Intentional and Unintentional Exposure to Online Sexual Material Among European Youth
Early Adolescent Boys’ Exposure to Internet Pornography
Surveying Pornography Use
Adolescents’ use of sexually explicit internet material and their sexual attitudes and behavior
Regression analyses of counts and rates
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2.4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |