Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has urged urgent action to protect children from online pornography after a report found a rising proportion of young people are encountering sexually explicit material — often by accident — at increasingly younger ages. According to coverage of the Commissioner’s findings in the Evening Standard, Dame Rachel called on government and regulators to close loopholes that allow children to bypass age checks, including through virtual private networks (VPNs), and set out a package of measures spanning regulation, criminal law and education.

The Commissioner’s own research paints a stark picture of early and widespread exposure. Survey data published by the office shows around seven in 10 respondents said they had seen pornography before their 18th birthday, with the average age of first exposure reported as 13 and some children describing encounters as young as six. The study highlights that most exposures are unintended and that social media platforms — notably X, Instagram and Snapchat — are common routes by which children come across explicit content, while young people report seeing violent and degrading material that can normalise harmful sexual behaviour.

A central recommendation is that online pornography should be subject to the same content requirements as offline material. The report argues for parity of protection between digital and physical distribution, proposing that online content be audited and regulated to the same standards that apply to video distributed under existing UK law. The British Board of Film Classification has already said it stands ready to expand its role and audit online pornography, pointing to its long experience classifying offline video works and warning that violent and abusive material available online would be illegal to distribute offline.

The report also pushes for tougher criminal measures. It calls for depictions of non-fatal strangulation in pornography to be comprehensively outlawed — a change the government has since signalled it will introduce. Ministers announced plans to amend legislation so that publishing or distributing pornographic material showing strangulation will be a criminal offence, framing the move as part of wider efforts to tackle and reduce violence against women and girls. Campaign groups and some politicians have welcomed the step, while government statements say further detail on implementation will follow.

Education and prevention form the other pillar of the Commissioner’s approach. The report recommends a recruitment drive for specialist Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) teachers, national professional qualifications for those specialists, and stronger support for classroom delivery so teachers can confidently address online harms. The Commissioner’s blog and consultation materials call for RSHE to be rooted in safeguarding, for designated leads to curate teaching, for lesson materials to be published and kitemarked (for example via national providers such as Oak National Academy), and for schools to consult pupils to ensure lessons meet their needs.

Closing regulatory gaps will be technically and politically challenging. The government’s explainer on changes to the Online Safety Act sets out measures requiring platforms to use “highly effective” age assurance — which might include facial scans, photo ID or credit-card checks — and gives Ofcom enforcement powers and fines to compel compliance. The same guidance, however, recognises that tools such as VPNs remain lawful for adults; it says platforms must not promote workarounds that help children bypass protections and that services deliberately targeting children with such tools could face action. Regulators, industry and campaigners therefore face the practical task of balancing children’s protection with adults’ privacy and lawful access.

Taken together, the Commissioner’s recommendations, industry offers to help, and the government’s legislative response signal a more interventionist posture towards online sexual content. But the reforms will require cross‑sector co‑ordination, new resources for schools and enforcement agencies, and clear operational detail on age assurance and auditing to be effective. The Commissioner’s research underlines the urgency: with accidental exposure still common and harmful content reportedly shaping young people’s attitudes, policymakers and schools have been urged to act swiftly to reduce harm and give teachers and families the tools to keep children safe online.

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Source: Noah Wire Services