Can Britain Win Its Fight Against Extreme Porn?

Pornography is big business, and an ugly one. A generation ago, someone wanting to access porn had to sneak into a licensed shop or cinema. Nowadays it’s ubiquitous and anonymous, available on phones and laptops whether at home, out and about or, most insidiously, in class.

Research by campaign group Generation Focus shows four out of 10 older teens have seen pornography at school. Two-thirds of teens report having seen sexual material, often unintentionally, with the average age of first exposure just 13. Some three-quarters of men say they watch pornography, 13% every day. This explosion of explicit images, fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence, means an infinite variety is available at the click of a button.