Some issues with internet pornography

[Mock Turtle]

One of my regular rants, given that times change all too quickly, and from a largely neutral perspective rather than simply being condemning - but I mostly do, given such seems to have more deficits than benefits. Some points (in three parts):


1. Not so easy to determine the ages of all involved in such imagery, or when any imagery might have originated (so the possibility that any involved might have been underage at the time), or as to any involved having legitimate consent - like being trafficked rather than involvement being voluntary or when images/videos are taken surreptitiously. And it might be quite easy to forge supposed reputable website logos as to anything presented being legitimate. Given that ownership of any such imagery will likely be illegal despite claiming one might have been deceived. Further to this, and currently becoming more of an important issue, how does one assess the age of any AI-generated imagery? See (4) and (9).


2. Often depicts sexual mores as being quite normal when this might not be so or hardly reflects the true situation, so hardly the best as to education. An example of this being anal sex, and where such was probably much less likely before it became so common in internet porn. Others being - more aggressive sex and group sex - which are common porn genres, but probably not in reality. Granted that any platform might cover the full range of legal genres, but perhaps there is some affect from what is available, so often influencing behaviour.

Hardcore porn, choking and rape: UK universities left to tackle rising tide of sexual assaults

As on-campus ‘sexual misconduct’ cases escalate, there are increasing calls to talk openly with young people about sex, pleasure and consent

www.theguardian.com

Research reports on gender and equality

Research into a range of gender and equality issues, including body image, gender norms, pornography use, shared childcare, and shared parental leave and pay.

www.gov.uk

Current research at Durham University has found content on the landing pages of the top three porn sites in the UK that could be classified as extreme pornography, as well as content that is in clear contravention of the sites own terms and conditions. This means that users in England and Wales who do not know the law on pornography may be unaware they are accessing illegal material.

French equality watchdog finds 90% of online pornography abuses women

Report urges changes in the law to make it easier to take down content and prosecute its makers

www.theguardian.com

As much as 90% of pornographic content online features verbal, physical and sexual violence towards women, and a significant amount of violence shown is punishable under existing laws in France, a report by the government-nominated equality watchdog has found. France’s high council for equality between women and men on Wednesday handed the government a damning report on illegal porn-industry practices, urging changes to the law to prosecute makers of pornography and to take down content in order to protect those who have been filmed. After more than 18 months of hearings and reviewing millions of videos on the biggest international pornography sites, the report said that in millions of videos, “women, caricatured with the worst sexist and racist stereotypes, are humiliated, objectified, dehumanised, assaulted, tortured, subjected to treatment that is contrary both to human dignity and French law”. The report said: “The women are real, the sexual acts and the violence is real, the suffering is often perfectly visible and at the same time eroticised.”

3. Such viewing often enables the exploitation of those unprepared to deal with sexual issues (especially children, as in grooming), and keeping such material or access to this from children is not that easy, given that adult material or relevant information as to access such will likely be passed between children or easily found. Expecting parents or carers to monitor all of their child's activities also might not be practicable. The early sexualisation of children might be another problem, given that access to such material is not made that difficult at present, as mentioned - as to age checking for access - or even when using social media. The rise in internet child-related offences by adults would seem to confirm this - as to easier access to children perhaps.

Huge rise in self-generated child sexual abuse content online, report finds

Disturbing global trend should be ‘entirely preventable’, says Internet Watch Foundation head

www.theguardian.com

Incidents of children aged between seven and 10 being manipulated into recording abuse of themselves have surged by two-thirds over the past six months, according to a global report. Almost 20,000 reports of self-generated child sexual abuse content were seen by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) in the first six months of this year, compared with just under 12,000 for the same period this year. The disturbing global trend has grown rapidly since the initial coronavirus lockdown, with cases involving that age group up 360% since the first half of 2020.

Children's commissioner: Pornography affecting 8-year-olds' behaviour

Effects of pornography on young people - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Children are more likely to be exposed to pornography and other forms of explicit sexual content online as they have easy access to technologies that enable them to connect to the internet, where these resources are widely available. Pornographic concepts can influence social norms, popular culture, music videos, movies, advertising and fashion, which appeal to young people. Pornography also conveys themes in relation to gender, sexual health, power, bodies, pleasure, consent, sexuality and sex which can influence young people's expectations of sex. It also portrays pleasure, respect and consent in highly sexual and misrepresented ways. Young people are more likely to encounter sexualized content in video games and social media as these devices appeal to young populations. These devices are also sanctioned or permitted by parents. Some video games may depict violent sexual themes, and time spent on social media may increase the chances of young people to encounter pornographic material or other sexually explicit content. Seemingly innocuous or educational websites can also expose children to unexpected pornographic imagery – The Daily Dot noted that when searching for seemingly innocuous terms on Wikimedia Commons like "wheel", one encounters plenty of pornographic photos unlikely to be relevant to the search – in this particular example, photos from a BDSM torture session.

BBC Radio 5 Live - teen23, ‘I lost the rest of my teenage years’

Roxy Longworth was 13 when she was coerced into sending explicit photos to an older boy.

www.bbc.co.uk

Roxy Longworth was just 13 years old when she was coerced into sending explicit photos to a boy four years older than her. The images were then sent around her school without her consent and Roxy's mental health quickly deteriorated. Speaking to 5 Live’s Chris Warburton, Roxy said: “I spent four, five years feeling so alone, so ashamed and so disgusting.” Now aged 21, she’s educating teenagers about the dangers of social media.

Man who tricked over 200 boys into sending nudes is jailed for 21 years

Thousands of UK young people caught watching online child abuse images

Exclusive: children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland found watching or sharing ‘the most abhorrent’ images, Guardian investigation reveals

www.theguardian.com

After stark warnings from child abuse experts and police that young people are increasingly seeking help after accessing illegal material, the Guardian sent FoI requests to the 43 police forces across England and Wales. More than 6,000 children and teenagers were identified in 2022 across the 21 police forces who responded in full to the requests. A total of 3,591 children from the same forces were identified as watching or sharing online child abuse images between January and October this year. In several regions, children and teenagers make up more than half of all individuals linked to illegal image viewing. In Cambridgeshire, the number of under-18s watching or sharing child abuse has risen from 78 out of 130 offenders in 2018 to 329 out of 417 in 2023. In West Mercia, which covers Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire, 436 under-18s have been visited by officers so far this year despite it being one of the smaller forces in England. For Northern Ireland, 301 out of 420 individuals identified in 2023 were under 18. Police Scotland, which covers the whole of Scotland, did not provide data.

Meta platforms are marketplaces for child predators claims lawsuit

Facebook and Instagram ‘enabled adults to find, message and groom minors’ for sexual exploitation, alleges state of New Mexico legal filing

www.theguardian.com

Meta has allowed its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to become marketplaces for child predators, the state of New Mexico alleges in a lawsuit filed against the company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. The lawsuit claims that Meta “proactively served and directed [children] to egregious, sexually explicit images through recommended users and posts – even where the child has expressed no interest in this content”. It claims Meta “enabled adults to find, message and groom minors, soliciting them to sell pictures or participate in pornographic videos”. The company is also accused of fostering unmoderated user groups devoted to facilitating and selling child sexual exploitation content. “The office’s investigators found that certain child exploitative content is over 10 times more prevalent on Facebook and Instagram than it is on Pornhub and OnlyFans,” a statement from the New Mexico attorney general, Raúl Torrez, stated. “Meta’s conduct is not only unacceptable; it is unlawful,” the lawsuit says.

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-12-07/fake-model-agency-scout-blackmailed-young-girls-for-indecent-photos

 

[Mock Turtle]

Contd.

4. The progress currently seen in AI technology will likely make the situation a whole lot worse, as in enabling any fantasy to be fulfilled as long as an image exists on the internet or in anyone's personal collection. Fake celebrity porn being perhaps the forerunner of this, and not just in still imagery. But merely AI created porn based on no particular person is just as likely to be made, with perhaps such imagery seen as being underage. And the possibility of blackmail from such AI imagery seems to be an added complication as reported in recent news.

The AI-Generated Child Abuse Nightmare Is Here

Thousands of child abuse images are being created with AI. New images of old victims are appearing, as criminals trade datasets.

www.wired.com

AI-created child sexual abuse images ‘threaten to overwhelm internet’

Internet Watch Foundation finds 3,000 AI-made abuse images breaking UK law

www.theguardian.com

The “worst nightmares” about artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse images are coming true and threaten to overwhelm the internet, a safety watchdog has warned. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said it had found nearly 3,000 AI-made abuse images that broke UK law. The UK-based organisation said existing images of real-life abuse victims were being built into AI models, which then produce new depictions of them. It added that the technology was also being used to create images of celebrities who have been “de-aged” and then depicted as children in sexual abuse scenarios. Other examples of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) included using AI tools to “nudify” pictures of clothed children found online. The IWF had warned in the summer that evidence of AI-made abuse was starting to emerge but said its latest report had shown an acceleration in use of the technology. Susie Hargreaves, the chief executive of the IWF, said the watchdog’s “worst nightmares have come true”. “Earlier this year, we warned AI imagery could soon become indistinguishable from real pictures of children suffering sexual abuse, and that we could start to see this imagery proliferating in much greater numbers. We have now passed that point,” she said.

AI-generated naked child images shock Spanish town of Almendralejo

A sleepy town in southern Spain is in shock after it emerged that AI-generated naked images of young local girls had been circulating on social media without their knowledge. The pictures were created using photos of the targeted girls fully clothed, many of them taken from their own social media accounts. These were then processed by an application that generates an imagined image of the person without clothes on. So far more than 20 girls, aged between 11 and 17, have come forward as victims of the app's use in or near Almendralejo, in the south-western province of Badajoz. "One day my daughter came out of school and she said 'Mum there are photos circulating of me topless'," says María Blanco Rayo, the mother of a 14-year-old. "I asked her if she had taken any photos of herself nude, and she said, 'No, Mum, these are fake photos of girls that are being created a lot right now and there are other girls in my class that this has happened to as well.'" She says the parents of 28 girls affected have formed a support group in the town.

My Blonde GF: a disturbing story of deepfake pornography

Helen’s world is turned upside down when she discovers that her face has been digitally edited on to images of women in sexually explicit and often violent situations.

www.theguardian.com

AI: Fears hundreds of children globally used in naked images

Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, said child sexual abuse material generated through AI needs to be addressed "urgently". She said she was concerned there could be a "tsunami" of images created in the future. "That's because it's not something that's about to happen. It is happening," she said. In their October 2023 report, the foundation found that in just one month more than 20,000 AI-generated images were found on one forum which shares child sexual abuse material. Comments included congratulations for creators on the realism of pictures, and users saying they had created images from pictures they'd taken of children in a park.

UK school pupils ‘using AI to create indecent imagery of other children’

Protection groups call for urgent action to help pupils understand risks of making images that legally constitute child sexual abuse

www.theguardian.com

Children in British schools are using artificial intelligence (AI) to make indecent images of other children, a group of experts on child abuse and technology has warned. They said that a number of schools were reporting for the first time that pupils were using AI-generating technology to create images of children that legally constituted child sexual abuse material. Emma Hardy, UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC) director, said the pictures were “terrifyingly” realistic. “The quality of the images that we’re seeing is comparable to professional photos taken annually of children in schools up and down the country,” said Hardy, who is also the Internet Watch Foundation communications director. “The photo-realistic nature of AI-generated imagery of children means sometimes the children we see are recognisable as victims of previous sexual abuse. “Children must be warned that it can spread across the internet and end up being seen by strangers and sexual predators. The potential for abuse of this technology is terrifying,” she said.

a16z Funded AI Platform Generated Images That “Could Be Categorized as Child Pornography,” Leaked Documents Show

OctoML, the engine that powers a16z funded Civitai, thought the images could qualify as “child pornography,” but ultimately decided to keep working with the company anyway, internal Slack chats and other material shows.

www.404media.co

5. Just another path for addiction or addictive/compulsive behaviour to develop, even if there might not be a clinical diagnosis defining this. And where escalation of interest might occur (into illegality) when such just fails to satisfy and other material is sought out. This often happens with alcohol and recreational drugs, for example, as to many requiring greater amounts so as to satisfy their current craving.

Is porn harmful? The evidence, the myths and the unknowns

Pornography is now only an internet search away, and is becoming ever more immersive. How is it changing people’s behaviour, relationships and desires?

www.bbc.com

Watching porn could shrink a part of the brain linked to pleasure, according to a study from 2014. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin looked at the brains of more than 60 men while they looked at pornographic images, and quizzed them on their porn-watching habits. They found that the striatum, a part of the brain that makes up the reward system, was smaller in those who watched a lot of porn – meaning they might require more graphic material to get aroused. But the researchers couldn't conclude if respondents with smaller striatums were driven to watch more porn, or if their frequent porn-watching had caused it to shrink – although they “assume” the latter is the case.

Effects of pornography - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Prolonged exposure to pornographic content can lead to a development of increased sexual stimuli tolerance. Study showed earlier exposure may lead to potential desensitization to the stimuli, meaning individuals seek longer stimulation (12.0%) and more intensive sexual stimuli (17.6%) to reach climax. Such increase in tolerance was connected to a change in online pornography use pattern, major one's being "switching to a novel genre of explicit material (46.0%), use of materials that do not match sexual orientation (60.9%) and need to use more extreme (violent) material (32.0%)."

 

[Mock Turtle]

Contd.

6. It has been argued that pornography tends to support the misogyny/patriarchy that many might feel, given that more males view porn than females, and especially in many countries - apparently being over 80% these days in countries where porn will be available. But the evidence seems not to support this, even if females tend to be the ones most likely to being degraded/abused in much of porn. Also, see (8).


7. Free porn is likely to outnumber paid-for porn as to being viewed (why pay for anything if such can be obtained for nothing), and being so, there is likely to be more uploaded content (and perhaps less monitored), since such is at no cost, so that there will be avenues for illegal material to slip through (perhaps ages not checked so thoroughly) - as per Pornhub some time back, and as per (1) above. And I doubt any website waiver that all females are over 18 and have given their legitimate consent will be a suitable defence as to viewing or owning illegal material.

Pornhub removes millions of videos after investigation finds child abuse content

Purge removed content from unverified users and, by Monday, had reduced the content on the popular adult site from 13m videos to just 4m

www.theguardian.com

8. Decades back, before the internet arrived, there were likely to be very few who even bought explicit sexual material then available, and seemingly we managed OK, such that these days something else in our environment is more likely to be the driver as to why so many view such material now. A reaction against feminism perhaps? Added to this, it was only in about the mid 1970s that explicit imagery was even seen in print - as to glamour magazines - and before this it was mainly just breasts and bottoms on display. These days virtually everything goes, and given such there is the risk of escalation into more illegal areas like extreme pornography or even underage material - or such as looks like this - females with bodies and/or faces resembling those younger.

Is porn harmful? The evidence, the myths and the unknowns

Pornography is now only an internet search away, and is becoming ever more immersive. How is it changing people’s behaviour, relationships and desires?

www.bbc.com

However, in recent years, porn has been accused of becoming increasingly violent. A veteran porn star said in a recent documentary about porn that, in the 1990s, it constituted “making love on a bed,” and having “lovey dovey sex”. But in 2010, researchers analysed more than 300 porn scenes and found that 88% contained physical aggression. Most of the perpetrators were male, and their targets female, and the latter’s most common response to aggression was to show pleasure or respond neutrally.

Pornography driving UK teens towards child abuse material, say experts

Exclusive: Police and charities warn of rise in harmful sexual behaviour among young people

www.theguardian.com

Child abuse experts and police are warning that access to increasingly extreme pornography is driving a rise in harmful sexual behaviour among young people, from sexting to watching online child abuse. One charity that works to prevent child sexual abuse said there had been a 30% increase in under-18s contacting them, and a 26% rise in adults contacting them because they were concerned about the behaviour of a young person.

France is reckoning with the harms of online porn. But will anything change? | Marie Le Conte

A government-backed report is damning about the porn industry, painting it as inherently criminal. Sex workers, on the other hand, strongly disagree, says French journalist Marie Le Conte

www.theguardian.com

There are a number of anecdotes too graphic and harrowing to mention in a newspaper, and interviews with producers who admit that they must keep making increasingly extreme content in order to get more clicks.

9. Might affect the self-image and confidence of so many females, especially the young, given that much of adult porn is centred around beauty, youth, and/or the 'perfect' body to have - and with probably more females now having cosmetic surgery (even of the most intimate nature) than has ever happened before. This also might be worrying in that such surgery or other 'beautifying' presentations might be seen as encouraging viewing of those younger - and as to such being illegal - given that lack of pubic hair or 'beautified/simplified' genitals are more like that of a child. Even those having small or no breasts are often seen as being, or exampled as being, underage when such is just a fact as to being born with such morphology. Much of pornography does have many examples of such females, and perhaps being seen as the borderline between legal and illegal, even if they are all over 18. And as per (4) above, AI might contribute to such.

Porn effects: 'My expectations of sex and body image were warped'

Inaccuracy of age assessment from images of postpubescent subjects in cases of alleged child pornography - PubMed

Despite frequent medical expert testimony authoritatively stating that images of individuals who are postpubescent indicate age less than 18 and therefore, child pornography, developmental experts have noted that a scientific basis for such estimation is lacking. In fact, recent studies have...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Ten images of adult women from legitimate pornographic sites promoting youthful images were shown to 16 pediatric endocrinologists expert in evaluating maturation, who determined whether or not the individuals represented were under 18 years of age. They also provided information about what features were most important in their evaluations. Sixty-nine percent of the 160 estimates were that the images represented females under 18 years of age. There was wide variability in the designation of importance of the various features of maturation in reaching conclusions, with breast development and facial appearance considered most important. This study confirms that medical testimony, even by experts in adolescent development, can deem images of adult women selected for their youthful appearance to be under age 18 two thirds of the time.

10. There often is an argument as to viewing pornography being like letting off steam, such that one might be less likely to act out any fantasies (which might be illegal and often will be) but there is an equal argument to be made as to conditioning occurring so as to eventually prompt some to carry out any fantasies when the material viewed eventually fails to satisfy - the escalation effect again.

Evidence Mounts: More Porn, Less Sexual Assault

Those who claim that porn incites rape are mistaken.

www.psychologytoday.com

The Research-backed Links Between Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse

Most people agree that child sexual abuse is an atrocity that violates human dignity, but many don't know the role porn plays in fueling child sexual abuse.

endsexualexploitation.org

Summary: Although the above might simply seem more like a diatribe against pornography, and stemming from some anti-porn movement perhaps, it is no such thing and merely an attempt to draw attention to many of the legitimate concerns and deficits from what has seemingly become the right to view and own copious amounts of freely available porn regardless of the consequences, especially to others. Some points I would like to make are that, (a) It is, and has mostly been so since the technology was available, easy to access pornography (even of the illegal kind) regardless of one's age and of what this might do to those viewing such material, (b) Although there has been movement towards verifying ages, this is currently not possible it seems, given the risks of malware and such being major concerns, (c) Various platforms seem more interested in profits than protecting the young who might use such platforms (from viewing such material or being targeted by adults), given the age restrictions (often 13) not being enforced adequately if at all, (d) There is no guaranteed legality as to viewing what supposedly is adult porn, even when those participants can prove their ages, given that many laws are based upon 'appearance as to being 18 or over', and as cited (in (9)), a majority in one test could not recognise those over 18 as being so - so would anyone trust a jury composed of these, with them apparently being experts too?

Edited to include summary.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I agree that you have some issues.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I agree that you have some issues.

So, nothing to contribute - apart from abuse.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

So, nothing to contribute - apart from abuse.

Other than a mild preference for terse rants? No.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Other than a mild preference for terse rants? No.

Well you know the words I might use then - as in **** ***!

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Well you know the words I might use then - as in **** ***!

^ terse rant

 

[Mock Turtle]

^ terse rant

Love you - of course.

 

[Viker]

I've never viewed internet porn. Seriously. And honestly the reason is I'm scared of what may be out there. I know transgender porn is a thing so yeah, scary. I think they still call us shemales. I personally hate that word. It sounds awful.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I don't know how old your are, @Mock Turtle, but I suspect I'm older than you. First, let me tell you that long before there was internet porn, the material was still readily available (in less convenient formats), and many people owned some (usually hidden away, but still). If nothing else, there were "Tijuana Bibles," which every kid I knew had viewed with lascivious interest. I remember a particularly naughty one with Pig Pen and Lucy (Peanuts).

Also, such things as anal sex, B&D, S&M, troilism, lesbians and gays, and a whole host of other sexual "eccentricities" were practiced, and most people were at least dimly aware of them (but often wouldn't admit it).

Human nature it is to be at least mildly interested in sex, and that interested is piqued the more religions and "the moral majority (hah!)" try to suppress it. Everything, it seems, has been magnified out of all proportion by the internet. Just go looking for all the science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, languages and every other field of learning, and you'll find it in spades. For some odd reason, though, a lot of people (probably especially men) don't bother looking for all that other stuff, but will indeed head straight for the porn sites.

I myself have been known to glance (I'm understating the matter ), but to be honest, I also watch a lot of cooking, music/theatre, news and try to beef up my math skills. But then, I'm almost 76 -- porn doesn't offer me what it once might have!

I should add, however, that I really wish young people had no access. It may forever set expectations for their own sexual lives that can never be realized.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I don't know how old your are, @Mock Turtle, but I suspect I'm older than you. First, let me tell you that long before there was internet porn, the material was still readily available (in less convenient formats), and many people owned some (usually hidden away, but still). If nothing else, there were "Tijuana Bibles," which every kid I knew had viewed with lascivious interest. I remember a particularly naughty one with Pig Pen and Lucy (Peanuts).

Also, such things as anal sex, B&D, S&M, troilism, lesbians and gays, and a whole host of other sexual "eccentricities" were practiced, and most people were at least dimly aware of them (but often wouldn't admit it).

I'm 78, so slightly older than you. I know there was porn before the internet, but the range and scale of what has happened and access available to almost anyone with a mobile phone or computer is rather new - especially when kids now (probably a majority) are having such access before they have outgrown their preteen years.

Human nature it is to be at least mildly interested in sex, and that interested is piqued the more religions and "the moral majority (hah!)" try to suppress it. Everything, it seems, has been magnified out of all proportion by the internet. Just go looking for all the science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, languages and every other field of learning, and you'll find it in spades. For some odd reason, though, a lot of people (probably especially men) don't bother looking for all that other stuff, but will indeed head straight for the porn sites.

I myself have been known to glance (I'm understating the matter ), but to be honest, I also watch a lot of cooking, music/theatre, news and try to beef up my math skills. But then, I'm almost 76 -- porn doesn't offer me what it once might have!

I should add, however, that I really wish young people had no access. It may forever set expectations for their own sexual lives that can never be realized.

I'm just pointing out, as per the various articles, why so many are concerned as to the current situation with regards this issue.

 

[Sand Dancer]

I don't know how old your are, @Mock Turtle, but I suspect I'm older than you. First, let me tell you that long before there was internet porn, the material was still readily available (in less convenient formats), and many people owned some (usually hidden away, but still). If nothing else, there were "Tijuana Bibles," which every kid I knew had viewed with lascivious interest. I remember a particularly naughty one with Pig Pen and Lucy (Peanuts).

Also, such things as anal sex, B&D, S&M, troilism, lesbians and gays, and a whole host of other sexual "eccentricities" were practiced, and most people were at least dimly aware of them (but often wouldn't admit it).

Human nature it is to be at least mildly interested in sex, and that interested is piqued the more religions and "the moral majority (hah!)" try to suppress it. Everything, it seems, has been magnified out of all proportion by the internet. Just go looking for all the science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, languages and every other field of learning, and you'll find it in spades. For some odd reason, though, a lot of people (probably especially men) don't bother looking for all that other stuff, but will indeed head straight for the porn sites.

I myself have been known to glance (I'm understating the matter ), but to be honest, I also watch a lot of cooking, music/theatre, news and try to beef up my math skills. But then, I'm almost 76 -- porn doesn't offer me what it once might have!

I should add, however, that I really wish young people had no access. It may forever set expectations for their own sexual lives that can never be realized.

What's troilism? Porn depicting trolls? lol

 

[Brickjectivity]

Three things that can improve all of the complaints:

Prohibit children from using social media until they are plenty old enough such as 16,17, 18..etc. This can be made into law. They don't need social media enough to endure these risks and the kinds of harms that have been perpetuated on social media sites and video sites. This can be accomplished with local laws.

Don't allow businesses with large revenue (revenue greater than X$) to offer free services on the internet. Only individuals and small businesses should be allowed to do this. No more free ebay. No more free paypal. No more free twitter or facebook or youtube. Everything big and connected should have a minimum cost like Amazon Prime does. As long as this is applied based upon revenue it should restore the internet and force competition. This would require international agreements.

Do not allow online services to advertise themselves as free if they offer subscriptions of any kind. This would apply to apps, to various services that offer either advertising based subscription or paid subscription. Make them state their prices up front.


This will hopefully reform the internet and the way that it impacts young people. Its just ideas. We cannot improve things if we are not willing to make changes.

 

[VoidCat]

On abuse and porn and not knowing if the folk can consent in it or are old enough to be having sex...There are sites that focus on ethical porn. I've seen a few. But those sites usually are paid for sites. So that the actors can be paid properly and because paying the actors well means they can focus on verifying the ages in order to pay them. These sites also typically are more diverse and keep in mind that women may want to view porn not just men. There's also a lot of focus on realism in some of these sites often silly little things that are unintentional that happen in the videos aren't editted out.

 

[VoidCat]

I also find it iffy not paying for porn. I know lot of folk like viewing it for free online but the folk in the videos are doing work. And often its stressful work that involves planning and understanding boundaries. I havent done porn but I've taken videos of myself and sent them to a few folk. Those videos are typically a minute or two at most 3. And I do them by myself. It's very tricky to do. Making sure the angles are right and such. I can imagine with another person it's much more tricky to get the angles right and make sure it's a good video. Sex workers deserve to be paid fairly

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

What's troilism? Porn depicting trolls? lol

Two's company, troilism's a crowd.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Two's company, troilism's a crowd.

Ah, those French!

 

[PureX]

I have found that to criticize porn or prostitution in any way on ths site tends to bring of a very active knee-jerk army of defenders claiming it's all harmless fun that every adult should be allowed to purchase/participate in it ... mostly because hedonism and profiteering trumps all other moral standards or criteria.

The sexual part of all of this stuff never bothered me (so long as it's adult and consenting) it's when the money comes into it that all the damage happens. But it's the money part of it that drives most people to defend it as some form of "freedom". And there is no moving them off this idiocy.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I have found that to criticize porn or prostitution in any way on ths site tends to bring of a very active knee-jerk army of defenders claiming it's all harmless fun that every adult should be allowed to purchase/participate in it ... mostly because hedonism and profiteering trumps all other moral standards or criteria.

The sexual part of all of this stuff never bothered me (so long as it's adult and consenting) it's when the money comes into it that all the damage happens. But it's the money part of it that drives most people to defend it as some form of "freedom". And there is no moving them off this idiocy.

Humans have been creating and enjoying porn (and engaging in and using prostitution) throughout recorded history. There's porn on Sumerian pottery 2,000 and more years ago, and on Greek and Roman and Mesopotamian pottery, walls, floors -- you name it. There are whole temples in India decorated lavishly with most explicity statuary. Heavens, the Mesopotamians even had a goddess of sex and prostitution, Inanna.

Pornography has existed throughout recorded history and has adapted to each new medium, including photography, cinema, video, and computers and the internet. The first amendment prohibits the U.S. government from restricting speech based on its content. Indecent speech is protected and may be regulated, but not banned. Obscenity is the judicially recognized exception to the first amendment. Historically, this exception was used in an attempt to ban information about sex education, studies on nudism, and sexually explicit literature. I hope that even you will accept that this is just sad!

Though some specific sex acts were regulated or prohibited by earlier laws, merely looking at objects or images depicting them was not outlawed in any country until 1857. When large-scale excavations of Pompeii were undertaken in the 1860s, much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light, shocking the Victorians who saw themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Roman Empire. They did not know what to do with the frank depictions of sexuality, and endeavored to hide them away from everyone but upper-class scholars. The movable objects were locked away in the Secret Museum of Naples, and what could not be removed was covered and cordoned off so as to not corrupt the sensibilities of women, children and the working class. The Victorians were so shocked at some of the wall paintings in In some cases, the possession of certain books, engravings or image collections was outlawed, but the trend to compose laws that actually restricted viewing sexually explicit things in general was a Victorian construct, which we have happily gotten over.