Internet pornography

{{short description|Any pornography that is accessible over the Internet}} {{protection padlock|small=yes}} {{pp-semi-indef}} '''Internet pornography''' or '''online pornography''' is any [[pornography]] that is accessible over the [[Internet]]; primarily via [[website]]s, [[FTP]] connections, [[peer-to-peer file sharing]], or [[Usenet newsgroup]]s. The greater accessibility of the [[World Wide Web]] from the late 1990s led to an incremental growth of Internet pornography, the use of which among adolescents and adults has since become increasingly popular.

[[Danni's Hard Drive]] started in 1995 by [[Danni Ashe]] is considered one of the earliest online pornography websites. In 2020, estimates suggested there were nearly 30 million pornography websites, comprising about 12% of all websites on the Internet. In 2022, the total amount of pornographic content accessible online was estimated to be over 10,000 [[terabytes]]. The four most accessed pornography websites are [[Pornhub]], [[xHamster]], [[XVideos]], and [[XNXX]].

{{As of|2025}}, a single company, [[Aylo]], owns and operates most of the popular<ref name="Bulk Alexa rank 17 April 2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.bulkseotools.com/bulk-check-alexa-ranking.php |title=Bulk Alexa rank checker |date=27 April 2016 |website=BulkSeoTools.com |publisher=Bulk Alexa Rank Checker |access-date=27 April 2016}}</ref> online streaming pornography websites, including: [[Pornhub]], [[RedTube]], [[Tube8]], and [[YouPorn]], as well as [[pornographic film studios]] like: [[Brazzers]], [[Digital Playground]], [[Reality Kings]], and [[Sean Cody]] among others, but it does not own websites like xHamster, XVideos, and XNXX. Some have alleged that the company is a [[monopoly]].<ref name="Vampire Porn">{{cite web |title=Vampire Porn |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/10/mindgeek_porn_monopoly_its_dominance_is_a_cautionary_tale_for_other_industries.html |last1=Auerbach |first1=David |date=23 October 2014 |website=Slate |access-date=19 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219160919/http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/10/mindgeek_porn_monopoly_its_dominance_is_a_cautionary_tale_for_other_industries.html |archive-date=19 December 2014}}</ref>

==Introduction== Starting in the late 1980s, the [[Internet]] has played a major part in increasing access to pornography.{{sfn|Paasonen|2011|p=34}} [[Usenet newsgroup]]s provided the base for what has been called the "amateur revolution" where [[Amateur pornography|amateur pornographers]], with the help of [[Digital camera|digital cameras]] and the Internet, created and distributed their own pornographic content independent of the mainstream networks.{{sfn|Paasonen|2011|p=72-73}}

The use of the [[World Wide Web]] became popular with the introduction of [[Netscape navigator]] in 1994. This development paved the way for newer methods of distribution and consumption of pornography.{{sfn|Paasonen|2011|p=35}}

The Internet as a medium to access pornography became so popular that in 1995 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' published a cover story titled "Cyberporn".{{sfn|Paasonen|2011|p=46}}

''Danni's Hard Drive'' started in 1995, by [[Danni Ashe]] is considered one of the earliest online pornographic websites; coded by Ashe, a former stripper and nude model, the website was reported by CNN in 2000 to have made revenues of $6.5 million.{{sfn|Rosen|2023}}{{sfn|Paasonen|2011|p=35}}

In 2012, the total number of pornographic websites was estimated to be around 25 million, comprising 12% of all websites.{{sfn|Rosen|2023}}

In 2022, the amount of pornographic content accessible online was estimated at over 10,000 [[terabytes]].{{efn|Aided by the easy online accessibility of more than 10,000 Terabytes of pornographic content, frequent consumption of Internet pornography, particularly among young adolescents and adults, has become increasingly popular.{{sfn|Jahnen|Zeng|Kron|Meissner|2022}}}}

In 2024, according to the DSA regulation, 59 out of 100 Spaniards visits one of the three biggest websites monthly.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris STOKEL-WALKER |date=10 October 2024 |language=en |title=The EU has helped us understand exactly how horny people are. |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91203631/the-eu-has-helped-us-understand-exactly-how-horny-people-are |access-date=17 October 2024}}<!— auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator —></ref>

Before its shutdown in 2025, [[ThisAV]] was a popular pornographic website in [[Hong Kong]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |author=謝文哲 |date=2023-01-04 |title=世界第一謎片平台「無預警掛點」老司機崩潰：經典舊片那邊才有 |trans-title=Popular Adult Site "Disappeared in a Sudden Puff", Fans Upset: "Only There Can We Find [some of] the Old Classics" |url=https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/20230104edi004 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205140050/https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/20230104edi004/ |archive-date=2023-02-05 |access-date=2024-08-22 |magazine=鏡週刊}}</ref><ref name="扣押">{{Cite news |date=2025-01-14 |title=知名成人網站無預警遭關閉專家示警：難以根除 |trans-title=Sudden Shutdown of Well-Known Adult Website, Experts Warn: [the problem of content piracy] Won't Stop so Easily |url=https://news.ebc.net.tw/news/entertainment/465774 |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=东森新闻}}</ref>

==History and methods of distribution== {{original research|section|date=January 2014}}

===Before the World Wide Web=== Pornography is regarded by some as one of the driving forces behind the expansion of the World Wide Web, like [[camcorder]]s, [[VCR]]s and [[cable television]] before it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/mobile/194020/the-importance-of-porn |title=The importance of porn |last=K. |first=Gotfried |date=1 September 2010 |work=[[Bangkok Post]] |access-date=17 January 2014}}</ref> Prior to the development of the World Wide Web, pornographic images had been transmitted over the Internet as [[ASCII porn]]. To send images over network required computers with graphics capabilities and higher network bandwidth. In the late 1980s and early 1990s this was possible through the use of anonymous FTP servers and the [[Gopher protocol]], an early content delivery protocol that was later displaced by [[HTTP]]. One of the early Gopher/FTP sites to compile pornography was the Digital Archive on the 17th Floor at [[TU Delft]]. This small image archive contained some low quality scanned pornographic images that were initially available to anyone anonymously. The site soon became restricted to [[Netherlands]] only access after traffic grew to over 10,000 users around the world, who were obtaining approximately 30,000 images a day.<ref name="Rimm-1996">{{cite journal |last=Rimm |first=Marty |year=1996 |title=Marketing Pornography on the Information Superhighway: A Survey of 917,410 Images, Description, Short Stories and Animations Downloaded 8.5 Million Times by Consumers in Over 2000 Cities in Forty Countries, Provinces and Territories |url=http://www.sics.se/~psm/kr9512-001.html |journal=Georgetown Law Journal |volume=83 |issue=5 |pages=1849–1934}}</ref>

===Usenet groups=== [[Usenet newsgroup]]s provided an early way of sharing images over the narrow bandwidth available in the early 1990s. Because of the network restrictions of the time, images had to be encoded as ascii text and then broken into sections before being posted to the Alt.binaries of the usenet. These files could then be downloaded and then reassembled before being decoded back to an image. Automated software such as Aub (''Assemble Usenet Binaries'') allowed the automatic download and assembly of the images from a newsgroup. There was rapid growth in the number of posts in the early 1990s but image quality was restricted by the size of files that could be posted.

This method was also used to disseminate pornographic images, which were usually scanned from [[adult magazine]]s. This type of distribution was generally free (apart from fees for Internet access), and provided a great deal of anonymity. The anonymity made it safe and easy to ignore [[copyright]] restrictions, as well as protecting the identity of uploaders and downloaders. Around this time frame, pornography was also distributed via pornographic [[Bulletin Board System]]s such as [[Rusty n Edie's]]. These BBSes could charge users for access, leading to the first commercial online pornography.

A 1995 article written in ''[[The Georgetown Law Journal]]'' titled "Marketing Pornography on the Information Superhighway: A Survey of 917,410 Images, Description, Short Stories and Animations Downloaded 8.5 Million Times by Consumers in Over 2000 Cities in Forty Countries, Provinces and Territories"<ref name="Rimm-1996" /> by Martin Rimm, a [[Carnegie Mellon University]] graduate student, claimed that (as of 1994) 83.5% of the images on Usenet newsgroups where images were stored were pornographic in nature. Before publication, [[Philip Elmer-DeWitt]] used the research in a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article, "On a Screen Near You: Cyberporn."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Elmer-DeWitt |first1=Philip |date=24 June 2001 |title=ON A SCREEN NEAR YOU |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,134361,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327051940/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,134361,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 27, 2009 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> The findings were attacked by journalists and [[civil liberties]] advocates who insisted the findings were seriously flawed.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060604053759/http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/how_time_failed_meeks.article The Rimm Factor by Brock Meeks, EFF]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060611172009/http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/rimm_hoffman_novak.critique Hoffman and Novak's Analysis, EFF]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060611172017/http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/elmer-dewitt_time.interview Hotwired interviews Philip Elmer-DeWitt, EFF]</ref> "Rimm's implication that he might be able to determine 'the percentage of all images available on the Usenet that are pornographic on any given day' was sheer fantasy" wrote [[Mike Godwin]] in [[HotWired]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w2.eff.org/Misc/Publications/Mike_Godwin/journoporn_godwin.article |title=JournoPorn: Dissection of the Time Scandal: The Shoddy Article |last=Godwin |first=Mike |date=September 1995 |website=Hotwired |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081027171218/http://w2.eff.org/Misc/Publications/Mike_Godwin/journoporn_godwin.article |archive-date=27 October 2008}}</ref> The research was cited during a session of [[U.S. Congress]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/cda/grassley-congressional-record.html |title=From Congressional Record, June 26, 1995 |work=mit.edu}}</ref> The student changed his name and disappeared from public view.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Elmer-DeWitt |first1=Philip |date=1 July 2015 |title=Finding Marty Rimm |url=http://fortune.com/2015/07/01/cyberporn-time-marty-rimm/ |work=Fortune |access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref> Godwin recounts the episode in "Fighting a Cyberporn Panic" in his book ''[[Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age]]''.

The invention of the [[World Wide Web]] spurred both commercial and non-commercial distribution of pornography. The rise of pornography websites offering photos, video clips and [[streaming media]] including live [[webcam]] access allowed greater access to pornography.

===Free vs. commercial=== Both commercial and free pornographic sites are common on the Internet. The bandwidth usage of a pornographic website is relatively high, which can lead to large web hosting and Internet costs. Free websites, which often use advertising revenue to earn income, may not earn a sufficient amount to cover the costs of web hosting. One entry into the free pornographic website market are thumbnail gallery post sites. These are free websites that post links to commercial sites, providing a sampling of the commercial site in the form of [[thumbnail]] images, or in the form of [[Free Hosted Galleries]]—samplings of full-sized content provided and hosted by the commercial sites to promote their site. Some free websites primarily serve as [[web portal|portals]] by keeping up-to-date indexes of these smaller sampler sites. When a user purchases a subscription to a commercial site after clicking through from a free thumbnail gallery site, the commercial site makes a payment to the owner of the free site. There are several forms of sites delivering adult content.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pornjade.com/articles/1.html |title=Article 'Adult on Web' – Jun. 5, 2007 |access-date=28 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008070541/http://pornjade.com/articles/1.html |archive-date=8 October 2007}}</ref>

====TGP==== A common form of adult content is a categorized list (more often a table) of small pictures (called "thumbnails") linked to galleries. These sites are called a thumbnail gallery post (TGP). As a rule, these sites sort thumbnails by category and type of content available on a linked gallery. Sites containing thumbnails that lead to galleries with video content are called MGP (movie gallery post). The main benefit of TGP/MGP is that the surfer can get a first impression of the content provided by a gallery without actually visiting it.

However, TGP sites are open to abuse, with the most abusive form being the so-called CJ (abbreviation for circlejerk), that contains links that mislead the surfer to sites he or she actually did not wish to see. This is also called a [[URL redirection|redirect]].

====Linklists==== Linklists, unlike TGP/MGP sites, do not display a huge number of pictures. A linklist is a (frequently) categorised web list of links to so-called "freesites*", but unlike TGPs, links are provided in a form of text, not thumbs. It is still a question which form is more descriptive to a surfer, but many webmasters cite a trend that thumbs are much more productive, and simplify searching. On the other hand, linklists have a larger amount of unique text, which helps them improve their positions in search engine listings. TopLists are linklists whose internal ranking of freesites is based on incoming traffic from those freesites, except that freesites designed for TopLists have many more galleries.

====Peer-to-peer==== [[Peer-to-peer]] file sharing networks provide another form of free access to pornography. While such networks have been associated largely with the illegal sharing of copyrighted music and movies, the sharing of pornography has also been a popular use for file sharing. Many commercial sites have recognized this trend and have begun distributing free samples of their content on peer-to-peer networks.

== Viewership == As of 2011, the majority of viewers of online pornography were men; women tended to prefer [[romance novel]]s and erotic [[fan fiction]]. Women comprised about one quarter to one third of visitors to popular pornography websites, but were only 2% of subscribers to pay sites. Subscribers with female names were flagged as signs of potential [[credit card fraud]], because "so many of these charges result in an angry wife or mother demanding a refund for the misuse of her card."<ref name="ogas20110430">{{cite news |last=Ogas |first=Ogi |title=The Online World of Female Desire |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704463804576291181510459902 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=30 April 2011 |access-date=4 May 2011}}</ref>

Nonetheless, women spend more time on average on pornography websites, particularly [[Pornhub]], than men<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=2021 Year in Review |url=https://www.pornhub.com/insights/yir-2021 |website=Pornhub Insights}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fratti |first=Karen |date=2017-06-13 |title=Women watch more porn than men, and other steamy stats from a new Pornhub survey |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/women-watch-more-porn-men-152721328.html |website=Yahoo! Life |access-date=2022-03-22 |archive-date=2024-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204050131/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/women-watch-more-porn-men-152721328.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and were more interested in pornography upon marriage.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Husain |first1=Waqar |last2=Qureshi |first2=Z. |date=2016 |title=Preferences in marital sexual practices and the role of pornography |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1158136016000062#! |journal=Sexologies |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=35–41 |doi=10.1016/j.sexol.2016.01.005 |via=Elsevier|url-access=subscription }}</ref> An anti-porn research group, Barna Group and Covenant Eyes, reported in 2020 that "33% of women aged 25 and under search for porn at least once per month.{{sfn|Rosen|2023}}

A 2015 study found "a big jump"<ref name=Jacobs/> in pornography viewing over the past few decades, with the largest increase driven by the people born in the 1970s and 1980s. While the study's authors noted this increase is "smaller than [[conventional wisdom]] might predict," it is still quite significant. Those who were born since the 1980s onward were the first to grow up in a world where they had access to the Internet from their teenage years, this early exposure and accessibility of Internet pornography might have been the primary driver of this increase.<ref name=Jacobs>{{cite web |url=https://psmag.com/environment/surprise-we-all-love-porn |title=Pornography Consumption on the Rise |date=28 August 2015 |last=Jacobs |first=Tom |work=[[Pacific Standard]] |publisher=The Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy |access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref>

States that are highly religious and conservative were found to search for more Internet pornography.<ref name=states>{{cite web |last=Shultz|first=David|title=Religious and conservative states search for more Internet pornography |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/religious-and-conservative-states-search-more-internet-pornography|date=31 December 2014|website=[[Science.org]]}}</ref>

==Internet pornography formats==

===Image files=== Pornographic images may be either scanned into the computer from photographs or magazines, produced with a digital camera or a [[Video frame|frame]] from a video before being uploading onto a pornographic website. The [[JPEG]] format is one of the most common formats for these images. Another format is [[GIF#Animated GIF|GIF]] which may provide an animated image where the people in the picture move. It can last for only a second or two up to a few minutes and then reruns (repeats) indefinitely. If the position of the objects in the last frame is about the same as the first frame, there is the illusion of continuous action.

===Video files and streaming video=== Pornographic video clips may be distributed in a number of formats, including [[MPEG]], [[WMV]], and [[QuickTime#File formats|QuickTime]]. More recently, [[VCD]] and [[DVD]] image files allow the distribution of whole VCDs and DVDs. Many commercial porn sites exist that allow one to view pornographic streaming video. As of 2020, some Internet pornography sites have begun offering [[5K resolution]] content, while [[1080p]] and [[4K resolution]] are still more common.

Since mid-2006, advertising-supported free pornographic [[video sharing]] websites based on the [[YouTube]] format have appeared. Referred to as [[Porn 2.0]], these sites generally use [[Adobe Flash|Flash]] technology to distribute videos that were uploaded by users; these include [[user-generated content]] as well as scenes from commercial porn movies and advertising clips from pornographic websites.

===Webcams=== {{Main|Webcam model}}

Another format of adult content that emerged with the advent of the Internet is live [[webcams]]. Webcam content can generally be divided into two categories: group shows offered to members of an adult paysite, and one-on-one private sessions usually sold on a pay-per-view basis.

Server-based webcam sex shows spur unique international economics: adult models in various countries perform live webcam shows and chat for clients in affluent countries. This kind of activity is sometimes mediated by companies that will set up websites and manage finances. They may maintain "office" space for the models to perform from, or they provide the interface for models to work at home, with their own computer with webcam.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aanmelden.islive.nl/benodigdheden/?p=1773&pi=sextheater&l=en |title=Join IsLive |publisher=Aanmelden.islive.nl |access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref> As of 2020, most so-called cam hosts stream directly from their home, due to the availability of fast Internet and cheap HD webcams. These models earn money through tips or by selling exclusive content to their viewers through live cam sites, which can reach more than 20,000 viewers at once.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pornsites.xxx/blog/some-chaturbate-stats/ |title=Some Chaturbate Stats| date=12 October 2020 |access-date=19 Jan 2022}}</ref> Live cam sites are very popular with sites like [[Chaturbate]] or [[LiveJasmin]] appearing among the 100 most popular websites according to [[Alexa Internet]].

===Other formats=== Other formats include text and audio files. While pornographic and [[erotic stories]], distributed as [[text file]]s, web pages, and via message boards and newsgroups, have been semi-popular, audio porn, via formats like [[MP3]] and [[FLV]], have increased in popularity.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} [[Audio pornography]] can include recordings of people having sex or simply reading erotic stories. (Pornographic magazines are available in Zinio format, which provides a reader program to enable access.)

Combination formats, such as webteases that consist of images and text are also common.

==Legal status== {{see also|Pornography laws by region}} {{Globalize|section|USA|2name=the United States|date=December 2010}}

The Internet is an international network and there are currently no international laws regulating pornography; each country deals with Internet pornography differently. Generally, in the United States, if the act depicted in the pornographic content is legal in the jurisdiction that it is being distributed ''from'' then the distributor of such content would not be in violation of the law regardless of whether it is accessible in countries where it is illegal. This does not apply to those who ''access'' the pornography, however, as they could still be prosecuted under local laws in their country. Due to enforcement problems in anti-pornography laws over the Internet, countries that prohibit or heavily restrict access to pornography have taken other approaches to limit access by their citizens, such as employing [[content filter]]s.

Many activists and politicians have expressed concern over the easy availability of Internet pornography, especially to minors. This has led to a variety of attempts to restrict children's access to Internet pornography such as the 1996 [[Communications Decency Act]] in the United States. Some companies use an [[Adult Verification System]] (AVS) to deny access to pornography by minors. However, most Adult Verification Systems charge fees that are substantially higher than the actual costs of any verification they do (for example, in excess of $10/month) and are really part of a revenue collection scheme where sites encourage users to sign up for an AVS system, and get a percentage of the proceeds in return.

In response to concerns with regard to children accessing age-inappropriate content, the adult industry, through the [[Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP)]], began a [[Content-control software#Content labeling|self-labeling]] initiative called the Restricted to Adults label (RTA). This label is recognized by many web filtering products and is entirely free to use.

Most employers have distinct policies against the accessing of any kind of online pornographic material from company computers,{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} in addition to which some have also installed comprehensive filters and logging software in their local [[computer network]]s.

One area of Internet pornography that has been the target of the strongest efforts at curtailment is [[child pornography]]. Because of this, most Internet pornography websites based in the U.S. have a notice on their front page that they comply with [[18 USC Section 2257]], which requires the keeping of records regarding the age of the people depicted in photographs, along with displaying the name of the company record keeper. Some site operators outside the U.S. have begun to include this compliance statement on their websites as well.

On April 8, 2008 [[Evil Angel (studio)|Evil Angel]] and its owner [[John Stagliano]] were charged in federal court with multiple counts of [[obscenity]]. One count was for, "using an interactive computer service to display an obscene movie trailer in a manner available to a person under 18 years of age."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/92236 |title=John Stagliano, Evil Angel Charged With 7 Obscenity Violations - |last=Javors |first=Steve |date=9 April 2008 |publisher=Xbiz.com |access-date=6 January 2014}}</ref>

More than a dozen U.S. states have enacted laws requiring age verification to access online pornography.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/11/politics/invs-porn-age-verification-laws-supreme-court/index.html |title=More than a dozen states have passed new laws that led to restrictions on pornography. Now, the Supreme Court will weigh in |date=11 January 2025 |publisher=CNN.com |access-date=6 February 2025}}</ref> United Kingdom also does a similar thing and France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Greece as for test by 2025 as for [[Online Safety Act 2023]] and [[Digital Services Act|EU Digital Services]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What's changing for children on social media from 25 July 2025 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/whats-changing-for-children-on-social-media-from-25-july-2025 |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-14 |title=The EU launches an online age verification app. Pilot project in 5 member states (including Italy) |url=https://www.eunews.it/en/2025/07/14/the-eu-launches-an-online-age-verification-app-pilot-project-in-five-member-states-including-italy/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |language=en-US}}</ref> The UK one will also include all the internet including social media like [[Discord]], [[Reddit]] and [[Twitter|X]], gaming platforms like [[Steam (service)|Steam]], [[Xbox]] and more.

==Web filters and blocking software== A variety of [[content-control software|content-control]], [[parental control]] and [[Internet filter|filtering]] software is available to block pornography and other classifications of material from particular computers or (usually company-owned) networks. Commercially available Web filters include [[Bess (content-control software)|Bess]], [[Net Nanny]], [[SurfWatch]], [[SeeNoEvil]], and others. Various work-arounds and bypasses are available for some of these products; [[Peacefire]] is one of the most notable clearinghouses for such countermeasures.

==Child pornography== {{Main|Child pornography}}

The Internet has radically changed how [[child pornography]] is reproduced and disseminated, and, according to the [[United States Department of Justice]], resulted in a massive increase in the "availability, accessibility, and volume of child pornography."<ref>[http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/childporn.html ''Child Pornography''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306150623/http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/childporn.html |date=6 March 2008}}, Child Exploitation and Obscenity, Department of Justice</ref> The production of child pornography has become very profitable, bringing in several billion dollars a year, and is no longer limited to pedophiles.<ref>[http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2006/edition_02-19-2006/Andrew_Vachss ''Child pornography has expanded into a business so profitable it is no longer limited to pedophiles. Let's Fight This Terrible Crime Against Our Children'', Parade, Andrew Vach, 19 February 2006] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027010713/http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2006/edition_02-19-2006/Andrew_Vachss |date=27 October 2010}}</ref> [[Philip Jenkins]] notes that there is "overwhelming evidence that [child pornography] is all but impossible to obtain through nonelectronic means."<ref>Jenkins, Philip (2005). "Law Enforcement Efforts Against Child Pornography Are Ineffective," in ''At Issue: Child Sexual Abuse''. Ed. Angela Lewis. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.</ref>

In 2006, the [[International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children]] (ICMEC) published a report of findings on the presence of child pornography legislation in the then-184 [[INTERPOL]] member countries. It later updated this information, in subsequent editions, to include 196 UN member countries.<ref name="icmec.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.icmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_X1&PageId=4346 |title=Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review |publisher=ICMEC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415101647/http://www.icmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_X1&PageId=4346 |archive-date=15 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last1=Gibney |first1=Mark |last2=Vandenhole |first2=Wouter |year=2013 |title=Litigating Transnational Human Rights Obligations: Alternative Judgments |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7VPhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |publisher=Routledge |page=63 |isbn=978-1135121051}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=LaBonte |first=Jay |year= 2007 |title=Parents Guide to the Internet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_AF0rzXS9AC&pg=PA20 |publisher=Lulu |pages=20–21 |isbn=978-1430307693}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Barbara |first=John J. |year= 2007 |title=Handbook of Digital and Multimedia Forensic Evidence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kI51wV4ticIC&pg=PA136 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |page=78 |isbn=978-1597455770}}</ref> The report, entitled “Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review,” assesses whether national legislation: <blockquote>(1) exists with specific regard to child pornography; (2) provides a definition of child pornography; (3) expressly criminalizes computer-facilitated offenses; (4) criminalizes the knowing possession of child pornography, regardless of intent to distribute; and (5) requires [[ISP]]s to report suspected child pornography to law enforcement or to some other mandated agency.<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=08SANTODOMINGO1028 |title=Icmec Explores Areas of Cooperation With Godr to Combat Child Sexual Exploitation |date=25 June 2008 |publisher=Embassy Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) |access-date=27 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141130085253/http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=08SANTODOMINGO1028 |archive-date=30 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Akdeniz |first=Yaman |year=2013 |title=Internet Child Pornography and the Law: National and International Responses |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx30syIntCYC&pg=PA278 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |pages=106, 275, 278, 293 |isbn=978-1409496076}}</ref></blockquote>

ICMEC stated that it found in its initial report that only 27 countries had legislation needed to deal with child pornography offenses, while 95 countries did not have any legislation that specifically addressed child pornography, making child pornography a global issue worsened by the inadequacies of domestic legislation.<ref>[http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/cybersecurity/cop/icmec-model-legislation-update-april-2010.pdf "Model Legislation Update: Since the Beginning"], ICMEC. April 2010.</ref> The 7th Edition Report found that still only 69 countries had legislation needed to deal with child pornography offenses, while 53 did not have any legislation specifically addressing the problem.<ref name="icmec.org"/> Over seven years of research from 2006 to 2012, ICMEC and its Koons Family Institute on International Law and Policy report that they have worked with 100 countries that have revised or put in place new child pornography laws.<ref name=critical>{{cite book |last=Schuz |first=Rhona |year=2014 |title=The Hague Child Abduction Convention: A Critical Analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ozqAwAAQBAJ&q=icmec+hague&pg=PA82 |publisher=A&C Black |pages=82–83 |isbn=978-1782253082}}</ref><ref name=plan>Permanent Bureau (February 2004), [http://www.hcch.net/upload/wop/genaff_pd14e.pdf "Strategic Plan Update, submitted by the Permanent Bureau"], Hague Conference on Private International Law, Preliminary Document # 14, p. 6</ref><ref name=train>{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com/2012/icmec-to-train-officers-in-bangkok-september-18-21/ |title=ICMEC to Train Officers in Bangkok September 18–21 |date=5 September 2012 |publisher=Virtual Global Taskforce |access-date=27 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312134551/http://www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com/2012/icmec-to-train-officers-in-bangkok-september-18-21/ |archive-date=12 March 2015}}</ref><ref>The Koons Family Institute on International Law and Policy (2012) [http://polis.osce.org/library/f/4060/3771/GOV-USA-RPT-4060-EN-3771 "Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608012528/http://polis.osce.org/library/f/4060/3771/GOV-USA-RPT-4060-EN-3771 |date=8 June 2015}}, 7th Edition</ref>

The [[NCMEC]] estimated in 2003 that 20 percent of all pornography traded over the Internet was child pornography, and that since 1997, the number of child pornography images available on the Internet had increased by 1,500 percent.<ref name=ncmec>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2064 |title=CHILD PORN AMONG FASTEST GROWING INTERNET BUSINESSES |date=5 August 2005 |publisher=National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, USA |access-date=13 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018231331/http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2064 |archive-date=18 October 2007}}</ref> Regarding Internet proliferation, the US DOJ states that "At any one time there are estimated to be more than one million pornographic images of children on the Internet, with 200 new images posted daily." They also note that a single offender arrested in the United Kingdom possessed 450,000 child pornography images, and that a single child pornography site received a million hits in a month. Further, much of the trade in child pornography takes place at hidden levels of the Internet. It has been estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 pedophiles are involved in organized pornography rings around the world, and that one third of them operate from the United States. Digital cameras and Internet distribution facilitated by the use of credit cards and the ease of transferring images across national borders has made it easier than ever before for users of child pornography to obtain the photographs and videos.<ref name=ncmec/><ref name=doj1>{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=M. |last2=Finkelhor |first2=D. |last3=Wolak |first3=J. |last4=Mitchell |first4=K. |year=2007 |title=Defining Child Pornography: Law Enforcement Dilemmas in Investigations of Internet Child Pornography Possession |url=http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV96.pdf |journal=Police Practice and Research |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=269–282 |access-date=1 July 2008 |doi=10.1080/15614260701450765|s2cid=10876828 }}</ref>

In 2007, the British-based [[Internet Watch Foundation]] reported that child pornography on the Internet was becoming more brutal and graphic, and the number of images depicting violent abuse had risen fourfold since 2003. The CEO stated "The worrying issue is the severity and the gravity of the images is increasing. We're talking about prepubescent children being raped." About 80 percent of the children in the abusive images were female, and 91 percent appeared to be children under the age of 12. Prosecution is difficult because multiple international servers are used, sometimes to transmit the images in fragments to evade the law.<ref name=IWF>{{cite news |last=Zheng |first=Yuking |date=16 April 2007 |title=Watchdog: Online Child Porn More Brutal |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/16/international/i170148D42.DTL |url-status=dead |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413080040/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2007%2F04%2F16%2Finternational%2Fi170148D42.DTL |archive-date=13 April 2009 |access-date=30 June 2008}}</ref>

==See also== {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} * {{anl|Adult movie theater}} * {{anl|Cybersex}} * {{anl|Internet sex addiction}} * {{anl|Revenge porn}} * {{anl|Rule 34}} * {{anl|Sexting}} {{div col end}}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite journal |first1= N |last1= Fritz |first2= V |last2= Malic |first3= TC |last3= Fu |first4= B |last4= Paul |first5= Y |last5= Zhou |first6= B |last6= Dodge |first7= JD |last7= Fortenberry |first8= D |last8= Herbenick |date= February 2022 |title=Porn Sex versus Real Sex: Sexual Behaviors Reported by a U.S. Probability Survey Compared to Depictions of Sex in Mainstream Internet-Based Male-Female Pornography. |journal= Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages= 1187–1200 |doi=10.1007/s10508-021-02175-6|pmid= 35165802 |pmc= 8853281}} * {{cite book |year=2007 |title=C'lickme: a netporn studies reader |editor-last1=Jacobs |editor-first1=Katrien |editor-last2=Pasquinelli |editor-first2=Matteo |url=http://www.networkcultures.org/netporn |isbn=9789078146032 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Institute of Network Cultures}} * {{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Katrien |year=2007 |title=Netporn: DIY web culture and sexual politics |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780742554320}} * {{cite journal |last1=Jahnen |first1=Matthias |last2=Zeng |first2=Leopold |last3=Kron |first3=Martina |last4=Meissner |first4=Valentin H. |last5=Korte |first5=Alexander |last6=Schiele |first6=Stefan |last7=Schulwitz |first7=Helga |last8=Dinkel |first8=Andreas |last9=Gschwend |first9=Jürgen E. |last10=Herkommer |first10=Kathleen |title=The role of pornography in the sex life of young adults-a cross-sectional cohort study on female and male German medical students |journal=BMC Public Health |date=December 2022 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=1471–2458 |doi=10.1186/s12889-022-13699-4 |pmid=35787262 |pmc=9252028 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |last=McCreadie Lillie |first=Jonathan James |date=March 2004 |title=Cyberporn, sexuality, and the net apparatus |journal=[[Convergence (journal)|Convergence]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=43–65 |doi=10.1177/135485650401000104|s2cid=220782688}} * {{cite book|last= Paasonen|first= Susanna |title= Carnal Resonance: Affect and Online Pornography|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2wqbC17l5iUC |publisher= MIT Press|edition= illustrated |date= 2011|isbn= 9780262016315}} * {{cite journal |last= Rosen |first= David|date=February 2023 |title=Pornography and the Erotic Phantasmagoria. |journal=Sexuality & Culture |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages= 242–265|doi=10.1007/s12119-022-10011-9|pmid= 36157715 |pmc= 9485786}} * {{cite journal |last=Scarcelli |first=Cosimo Marco |date=July 2015 |title='It is disgusting, but … ': adolescent girls' relationship to internet pornography as gender performance |journal=[[Porn Studies (journal)|Porn Studies]] |volume=2 |issue=2–3 |pages=237–249 |doi=10.1080/23268743.2015.1051914}}

==External links==  * [http://www.xbiz.com/ XBIZ, Adult Internet News, Market Analysis Articles, and Webmaster Resources] * [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051007.html ''Straight Dope'': How Much of All Internet Traffic is Pornography?]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060719194437/http://straightdope.com/columns/051007.html |date=2006-07-19 }}. * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130609112627/http://antonellagambottoburke.com/opinion/pornography/ "Cyberporn: The Crack Cocaine of Sexual Addiction"]}}, by [[Antonella Gambotto-Burke]], ''Men's Style'', December 2006. * {{Cite news |last=Swartz |first=Jon |date=12 June 2007 |title=Purveyors of Porn Scramble to Keep Up with Internet |url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/industry/2007-06-05-internet-porn_N.htm |work=USA Today |access-date=5 May 2010 |postscript=none}}

{{Pornography|state=collapsed}} {{Portal bar|Internet|Erotica and pornography}}

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