Children as young as six report seeing porn online by accident

Exposure to violent pornography has increased since the introduction of UK rules to protect the public online, with children as young as six seeing it by accident, research by the children's commissioner has found.

- Rajeev Syal

Dame Rachel de Souza said a landmark survey found more young people said they had been exposed to pornography before the age of 18 than in 2023, when the Online Safety Act became law. More than a quarter (27%) now said they had seen porn online by 11, while some reported they had been "aged 6 or younger".

The findings followed a similar survey carried out by the children's commissioner in 2023 and showed little had improved despite the new law and promises from ministers and tech giants, De Souza said.

She added: "Violent pornography is easily accessible to children, exposure is often accidental and often via the most common social media sites, and it is impacting children's behaviours and beliefs in deeply concerning ways. This report must be a line in the sand. New protections introduced in July by Ofcom, part of the Online Safety Act, provide a real opportunity to make children's safety online a non-negotiable priority for everyone: policymakers, big tech giants and smaller tech developers."