UK kids’ exposure to adult content higher than before Online Safety Act

Despite new laws and promises from tech firms, more children in the United Kingdom say they’ve been exposed to pornography online before the age of 18 than in 2023, when the Online Safety Act was introduced.

New research just published by Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, has found that exposure to pornography has increased since 2023, when rules to protect the public online were first introduced in the UK.

More than a quarter (27%) of the participants of the survey now said they had seen porn online by age 11. Some even said they were “aged six or younger” when asked about their first exposure to adult content.

A similar poll was carried out in 2023. According to de Souza, little has improved despite the introduction of the Online Safety Act that same year and rosy promises from both the UK government and the tech firms.

“Shockingly, pornography is no longer something that children might seek out in adolescence. Today, it has become something many children stumble upon accidentally while they’re still in primary school,” said the commissioner.

“It’s something that is shown to them without even looking for it on the same social media sites that were designed to help them connect with other people and be entertained. And it’s not just any pornography. It is violent, extreme, and degrading, often portraying acts that are illegal – or soon will be.”

De Souza’s office said that the survey found the acts children see being depicted in online pornography to sometimes be so extreme that they could not be legally published in offline formats like DVDs.

In short, British children and young people are still being exposed to extreme online pornography even when they’re not looking for it, which is probably more or less common in adolescence.

To de Souza, the new report (PDF) “must be a line in the sand.” She seems hopeful that Ofcom's new protections introduced in July will help better protect children from harmful online content.

The acts children see being depicted in online pornography to sometimes be so extreme that they could not be legally published in offline formats like DVDs.

The legislation – the Children’s Code – requires pornography sites and other platforms hosting harmful content to implement robust age verification systems to prevent children from accessing them.

“The protections for children under the Online Safety Act, which came into force on July 25th, could not have come soon enough,” said de Souza.

“Now, we will see if they work. And there must be serious consequences for companies that fail to meet the high expectations I have of them.”

Ofcom has the power to fine a firm up to 18 million pounds ($23.84 million) or 10% of its qualifying worldwide revenue, or block non-compliant sites.