By Bob McCoskrie
A new poll has found significant support for pornography sites to have age-verification requirements.
In the independent polling commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research, 1,000 respondents were asked “Some people have proposed placing stricter age verification rules on pornography sites on the Internet to ensure children cannot access adult content online. This law would require porn sites to verify someone is 18 or older with a credit card or ID before they can access the site. Do you support or oppose this law?”
Almost 4 in 5 (79%) respondents support a law requiring age verification on porn sites, with just 11% (1 in 10) opposing it.
Females were more supportive than men (84% v 73%), but support was strong across political party affiliation.
A poll in 2017 also found high levels of concern around the effects of online pornography and its link to sexual violence, and the easy access that young people have to offensive material. It also found significant support for action from government and internet providers in terms of filtering and Opt-Out provisions.
“Thanks to the availability, affordability and anonymity of the internet and smartphones, young children are exposed to what used to be referred to as hard-core – but now mainstream – pornography at an alarming rate. Parents are crying out for help,” says Bob McCoskrie, CEO of Family First NZ.
“And the research is revealing the true picture. Youth with greater pornography exposure have been found more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour at a young age, view women as sex objects and develop attitudes that support violence against women, believe “rape myths” – beliefs that justify or defend rape, have increasingly aggressive behavioural tendencies including increased interest in coercing partners into unwanted sex acts, and experience increased difficulty in developing intimate relationships with partners and decreased erectile function.”
France, Germany, UK, Louisiana and Utah have rolled out age verification systems.
For those who argue against age-verification, we already have age checks on other sites (e.g. Kiwi Access Card and RealMe).
Australian campaigner Melinda Tankard Reist identifies the urgent need for this legislation – both in Australia and also here in New Zealand.
“There are currently no barriers to prevent child from entering rape, sadism, torture porn and incest sites. As a result of this harmful experiment on the sexual development of children, many are acting out in sexually inappropriate ways, becoming copycat predators… We tell boys to respect girls, but porn – the world’s biggest department of education – teaches them the opposite. They are taught to see sex and aggression as linked. An age verification system would complement other strategies the Government, educational, and community groups are undertaking to help limit harms of explicit content. While not a ‘fix-all’, proof-of-age requirements would provide a much-needed layer of protection for children vulnerable to the predatory porn industry.”
“Today’s pornography teaches boys to be users, to be aggressive, and it tries to persuade girls that they are to be used. Initial studies show that the adolescent brain is more sensitive to sexually explicit material than adult brains. A review of 19 studies found that adolescents who view online pornography are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors and to have anxiety or depression, and more likely to commit sexual violence,” says Bob McCoskrie, CEO of Family First NZ who sponsored a petition to Parliament in 2017.
“Society is starting to catch up with the science on the harms of pornography. There has been an important national conversation around consent and ‘rape culture’. At the same time, there is increasing consumption and availability of online pornography and sexual violence. It’s time we connected the dots.”
The Ministry of Health, in its submission to the Select Committee considering the 22,334-written petition admitted that “the content of pornography has changed significantly over the last 20 years and has become more extreme, deviant and violent.” It also acknowledged that “violence towards women and girls is depicted in 80% of online content. This has a variety of harmful impacts on children and young people’s sexual expectations, attitudes, and behaviour.”
