Should we be doing more to Protect Children from Online Porn?

With porn being so easily available, the issue on a lot of people’s minds is the safety of children when using the internet. But what can be done to protect children from explicit and potentially damaging online content? There has been increasing pressure on internet service providers, who many feel should be doing more to filter pornographic images and help parents to keep their children safe online.

Research suggests that parents feel let down by service providers, and that parental controls are too complicated and difficult to set up. They also feel that the porn industry should be regulated properly in order to help block adult content from children. This research also suggests that internet users should be given a clear choice in whether they wish to have adult content on their laptops and phones, without having to go through the lengthy process of blocking or removing it. There are also calls for better regulation of the porn industry as a whole, and better age verification systems in order to protect young people from pornographic content.

An opt-in system would be very beneficial to most parents in protecting children. A lot of internet providers only block adult content when you ask them to. A lot of people feel that it’s the responsibility of parents to block this content or opt out, which is right. However, what happens if the parents don’t block the content or don’t know how to? It’s important that children in these households are kept safe, and the porn industry should be doing a lot more to regulate it’s content and who can access it.

But why is it so difficult for parents to monitor their children’s use of the internet? With all the controls available, parents need to take some responsibility over setting the right controls and ensuring children are protected. The problem is how easily accessible it can be to children. Not all parents are experts on using the internet, and even for those that are, it can be difficult to monitor children’s online browsing 24/7. With it being available on smart phones and tablets, the porn industry needs to take a much greater responsibility in ensuring adult content is only available for adults.

Even the industry itself recognizes that it needs to step up and ensure that it’s providing a safe environment online. Self regulation of the porn industry could be an effective way of doing this, and if not new laws should be put in place to reduce the amount of children who can access pornographic content on the internet. Either way, it’s clear something needs to be done and measures need to be put in place to ensure children are protected from inappropriate and sometimes damaging images and videos online.