BBFC: Over half UK children have clicked adult content
September 26, 2019
Children are inadvertently finding upon pornography online from as young as seven, a report has indicated.
The survey, from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), suggested some three-quarters of parents felt their child would not have seen porn online but more than half had done so.
Youngsters under the age of 10 described feeling “grossed out” and “confused” by what they had seen.
The UK is currently trying to make it harder for children to see adult content. It is bringing in a new regime of age verification, under which websites hosting mainly pornography will be required to stop UK users from accessing content unless they can prove they are over 18. However, the tech required is taking longer to roll out than anticipated.
David Austin, chief executive of the BBFC, commented: “Pornography is currently one click away for children of all ages in the UK, and this research supports the growing body of evidence that it is affecting the way young people understand healthy relationships, sex, body image and consent. The research also shows that when young children – in some cases as young as seven or eight years old – first see pornography online, it is most commonly not on purpose.”