Nearly a third of those under the age of 18 consult at least one pornographic site each month, a practice that has been on the rise for several years with the use of smartphones, revealed a Médiamétrie study commissioned by Arcom on Thursday.
2.3 million minors (30%) are thus exposed to pornographic images for more than 50 minutes on average each month, a proportion slightly lower than that of adults, who are 37% of those who consume this content, according to the study. held in France in 2022 with 25,000 panelists.
A massive query
Above all, there are 600,000 more minors since the fall of 2017, when the measurement began to be carried out on three screens (computer, smartphone, digital tablet). In fact, three quarters of those under 18 years of age use their telephone exclusively for these consultations, compared to 55% of adults.
For the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), charged by law with protecting minors from these images, “we are really facing a massive consultation of pornographic sites by minors, (…) that is carried out mainly on smartphones, which is to say from the parent’s eye”.
The attendance of adolescents is much lower: not representative until 11 years of age, 31% at 12-13 years of age and this proportion drops to the majority, while it increases among boys, the study points out.
15 sites put on notice
Among the 179 sites studied, the free platform Pornhub stands out, consulted by 18% of minors (1.4 million, +900,000 in five years). Its audience is thus made up of 17% minors, compared to 12% on average for other sites in the genre.
Arrested by associations based on the law on domestic violence of July 2020, Arcom has given formal notice to 15 sites to establish a real age control of their visitors and has taken legal action to request the blocking of seven of them, including Pornhub . A decision from the Paris court is expected on July 7.
Source: BFM TV
