Every year kids get phones earlier. And, every year, the consultation of pornographic sites by minors increases. Nearly a third of under-18s consult at least one pornographic site each month, a Médiamétrie study commissioned by Arcom revealed on Thursday. 2.3 million minors (30%) are thus exposed to pornographic images for more than 50 minutes on average each month.
This is a proportion barely lower than among adults, 37% of whom consume this content, according to the study carried out in France in 2022 with 25,000 panelists. 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 under-18s use their phones exclusively for these consultations, compared to 55% of adults.
21% of boys aged 10-11 consult each month
For the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), charged by law with protecting minors from these images, “we are really on a mass consultation of pornographic sites by minors, (…) which is essentially done on smartphones, that is to say out of the parental eye.
“These minors are even younger than we thought. We have 51% of boys aged 12-13 who watch pornographic sites each month, and still 21% of boys aged 10-11, ”warns Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier, president of the Arcom working group on protection of the public. The attendance of adolescent girls is much lower: non-representative up to 11 years old, 31% at 12-13 years old and this proportion decreases until the majority, while it increases among boys, notes the study.
17% minors on Pornhub
Among the 179 sites studied, the free Pornhub platform belonging to the global porn giant Mindgeek stands out, being consulted by 18% of minors (1.4 million, +900,000 in five years). Its audience is thus made up of 17% minors, against 12% for the average of other sites of the genre.
“Probably there are a number of incentive elements, such as the place on search engines”, analyzes Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier. 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 decision from the Paris court is expected on July 7.