The massive and early consumption of porn by minors pointed out by a study

According to a study by Médiamétrie commissioned by Arcom and published on Thursday, nearly a third of under-18s who use the internet consult at least one porn site each month in France. These data show the urgency of acting to better protect minors, several associations stress.

A report alerts on the massive and early consumption of porn by minors. Getty Images - Peter Dazeley

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2.3 million minors (30%) are exposed to pornographic images for more than 50 minutes on average each month, a proportion only slightly lower than among adults who are 37% to consume this content, according to the Mediamétrie study conducted in France in 2022 and commissioned by the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom). Above all, there are 600,000 more minors since autumn 2017, when the measurement began to be carried out on three screens (computer, smartphone, digital tablet).

Three-quarters of those under 18 use their phone exclusively for these consultations, compared to 55% of adults. For Arcom, charged by law to protect minors from these images, "we are really on a mass consultation of pornographic sites by minors, (...) which is mainly done on smartphones, that is to say out of the parental gaze". "These miners are even younger than we thought," warns Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier, of Arcom. Indeed, 21% of 10-11 year old boys watch porn sites every month. This figure rises to 51% for boys aged 12-13 and 31% for girls of the same age.

These "frightening figures" show "the urgency to act", responded in a statement the High Council for Equality between Women and Men, because porn content is "the bed of a society that trivializes violence against women and participates in the increase in sexist and sexual violence". "What are we waiting for to tackle this public health problem?" asked the association Osez le féminisme! "We demand that the government finally enforce the law," she added.

On May 10, the government presented a bill to "secure and regulate" the Internet. This text entrusts Arcom with the power to block and delist porn sites that do not comply with the law.

>> Read also: Pornography: the France wants to strengthen the powers of Arcom to protect minors

Set up an age check

While sites are in principle required to reserve access to adults only, in practice, most simply ask Internet users to click on a box to certify that they are over 18 years old. Seized by associations, Arcom has put 15 sites on notice to establish a real age control, and has taken legal action to obtain the blocking of seven of them, including Pornhub. The Paris judicial court is due to rule on this case on July 7.

At a hearing in April, the managers of the sites refused to set up an age check, because they consider the law insufficiently clear on the expected technical modalities.

One of these solutions would be to create a verification system called "double anonymity", by which the user would give his identity to a "trusted third party", explains Thomas Rohmer, founder of the Observatory of Parenting and Digital Education (Open). This device would then unblock access to the content without transmitting personal data to pornographic sites. "This can be complex to implement, but in the meantime, let's be pragmatic: we can require sites to ask for the user's credit card," suggests Thomas Rohmer.

This issue, he observed, is also the responsibility of parents, who must take a close interest in what their children do on the Internet, and help teenagers to "deconstruct the images" viewed.

As for younger children, who "come out of primary school", they "do not have the maturity to see these images, designed for adults," says psychologist Samuel Comblez, of the e-Enfance association that manages the 3018 helpline on violence and digital uses. "Some sites show scatophile images, zoophilic images, promote incest, aggressive images towards women. And all this is now accessible in three clicks, "laments Samuel Comblez.

On line 3018, "we have young people who call us to tell us that they have been disturbed", and who "remain silent", because it is "difficult for them to tell their parents that they have gone to see pornographic sites", says Thomas Rohmer.

>> READ ALSO: Pornographic industry in France: a Senate report denounces "the hell of the decor"

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• Internet
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