The exposure of minors to pornography seems to be increasing as the use of mobile phones becomes more democratic among the youngest. They are approximately 2.3 million children in France to be exposed to pornographic images for more than 50 minutes on average each month. This is 600,000 more than in autumn 2017. A level barely lower than adults, 37% of whom consume this content, reveals a study by the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom)carried out in 2022 with 25,000 people.
Among these minors, three quarters consult pornographic images on their smartphone, warns the study. “We are really on a mass consultation of pornographic sites by minors, which is done mainly on smartphones, that is to say out of the parental eye”, warns Arcom, charged by law with protecting minors to these contents.
younger and younger minors
Another particularly alarming discovery of the study: “These minors are even younger than we thought”, regrets Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier, president of the Arcom working group on the protection of the public. The gap is very strong according to gender. More than half of young boys aged 12-13 (51%) watch porn sites every month. Ditto for teenagers aged 12 to 17. “And still 21% of boys aged 10-11,” continues Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier.
Among young girls, attendance is much lower: not representative until the age of 11, 31% are exposed to it between the ages of 12 and 13. This proportion decreases until majority, while it increases among boys.
The urgency of better regulating pornographic sites
Among minors of all genders, around 10% consult pornographic images daily, the study adds. The free Pornhub platform, belonging to the global porn giant Mindgeek, is by far the most consulted among the 179 sites studied: it is used by 18% of minors, or 1.4 million young people. The site has thus gained an audience of 900,000 additional minors since the end of 2017. Its audience is now made up of minors up to 17%, compared to 12% for the average of other similar sites.
Seized by associations on the basis of 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 much-awaited decision by the Paris court is expected to take place on July 7.