Children’s exposure to porn higher than before 2023 Online Safety Act, poll finds | Pornography

Exposure to pornography has increased since the introduction of the UK rules to protect the people online with children of six people in research by the UK’s commissioner.

Dame Rachel de Souza said in a survey that more young people were exposed to pornography before the age of 18, and that the online Security Law was according to 2023, when it became a law.

More than a quarter (27%) now says that they see porn up to 11, and some are “six or smaller” when asked about their first exposure.

The findings continue from a similar survey conducted by the Child Commissioner in 2023, and Souza said that they have developed very little despite the new laws and the promises of ministers and technology companies.

He said: “Severe pornography can be easily accessible for children, exposure is usually accidental and often through the most common social media sites, and in depth affect the behavior and beliefs of children.

“This report must be a line in the sand. In July, new guards introduced by Ofcom, which is a part of the Online Security Law, offer a real opportunity to make the safety of children a priority for everyone online: Political makers, large technology giants and smaller technology developers.”

The findings are from a national representation of 1,010 children and young people between the ages of 16-21, which was carried out in May, shortly before the release of Ofcom’s children’s codes in July.

The rules presented by OFCOM have brought significant changes to make it difficult for those under 18 years of age to access porn websites. He found the same methodology and questions as the 2023 survey to ensure consistency:

• More young people, in 2025, 18 years (70%) 2023 (64%) compared to the porn compared to said.

• He said they saw porn more than a quarter (27%) to 11. The first age that a child saw pornography was 13.

• More vulnerable children had previously seen pornography. Free school meals, those with social workers, those with special education needs and those with disabilities – both physical and mental ones – 11 by 11 were more likely to see online porn.

• Almost half of the participants (44%) agreed that “girls may say no at first, but later can be convinced to have sex”. More analysis showed that 54% of girls and 41% of boys who see porn online, 46% of girls and 30% of the boys who haven’t seen porn – show that they are a link between porn exposure and attitudes.

• More participants said that they have seen online pornography (59%) from those who intentionally call (59%). The proportion of children who accidentally porn was 21 points higher than 2023 (59% V 38%).

• Networking and social media sites made up 80% of the main sources of children reaching porn. X was the most common pornography for children who exceed private porn fields.

• The gap between the number of children receiving pornography in X and those who see it in private porn fields expanded (45% V 35% in 2025, 41% V 37% in 2023).

• Most of the participants have seen the depictions of actions that were illegal or that would become illegal through crime and police bills within the scope of existing pornography laws.

• More than half (58%) had seen that he depicted a porn drowning, 44% saw that he saw sex depictions while he was asleep and 36% did not accept or refuse a sex action before he was 18 years old.

• More analysis has found that a low number of children are looking for severe or excessive content, ie children are actively looking for children.

In accordance with new rules, the report expresses concern that children can reduce a virtual private network (VPN) that remains as legal software in the UK and overcome the restrictions.

The report recommends that online pornography meets the same requirements as offline pornography; the depiction of non -fatal drowning should be declared illegal; and the Ministry of Education should provide the support for new relations, health and sex education curriculum to schools.

Last week, the number of people visiting the most popular pornography in the UK has decreased sharply since the increase in age verification rules. Data Analysis Company similarweb, leading adult site pornhub’ın just in just two weeks, said that more than 1 million visitors have lost.

Pornhub and other major adult websites introduced advanced age controls on July 25 after the online security law.

Similarweb compared the average daily user figures of popular pornography sites with average daily figures in July between 1 and 9 August. Pornhub is the most visited website for England’s adult content, and according to similarweb data, there was a decrease of 47% in traffic between July 24, the day before the new rules, between July 24th.

A government spokesman said: “The children have long been growing in an unlawful online world for a long time, bombed with pornography and harmful content that could watch them for life. Online security law is changing it.

“Let’s be open: VPNs are legal tools for adults and there is no plan to prohibit them. However, if platforms deliberately pushing temporary solutions such as VPNs to children, they will face difficult practice and heavy fines. This will not allow them to come before child safety.