Internet Pornography Statistics
Click a link below to jump to that section:
INTERNET PORN
- 87% of university students polled have virtual sex mainly using Instant
Messenger, webcam, and telephone (“CampusKiss
and Tell” University and College Sex Survey. Released on February
14, 2006. CampusKiss.com. February 17, 2006 <http://www.campuskiss.com/default.aspx?survey=show&homepage=true>).
- According to comScore Media Metrix, there were 63.4 million unique
visitors to adult websites in December of 2005, reaching 37.2% of the
Internet audience.
- According to the Florida Family Association, PornCrawler, their specialized
software program, identified 20 U.S. companies that accounted for more
than 70 percent of 297 million porn links on the Internet.
- By the end of 2004, there were 420 million pages of pornography, and
it is believed that the majority of these websites are owned by less
than 50 companies (LaRue, Jan. “Obscenity and
the First Amendment.” Summit on Pornography. Rayburn House Office
Building. Room 2322. May 19, 2005).
- The Internet pornography industry generates $12 billion dollars in
annual revenue – larger than the combined annual revenues of ABC,
NBC, and CBS (Family Safe Media, January 10, 2006, <http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html>).
- The largest group of viewers of Internet porn is children between
ages 12 and 17 (Family Safe Media, December 15, 2005,
<http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html>).
- According to comScore Media Metrix, 71.9 million people visited adult
sites in August 2005, reaching 42.7 percent of the Internet audience.
- According to comScore Media Metrix, Internet users viewed over 15
billion pages of adult content in August 2005.
- According to comScore Media Metrix, Internet users spent an average
of 14.6 minutes per day viewing adult content online.
- More than 32 million unique individuals visited a porn site in Sept.
of 2003. Nearly 22.8 million of them were male (71 percent), while 9.4
million adult site visitors were female (29 percent)
(Nielsen/Net Ratings, Sept. 2003).
- N2H2's database contained 14 million identified pages of pornography
in 1998, so the growth to 260 million represents an almost 20-fold increase
in just five years (N2H2, 9/23/03).
- The cybersex industry generates approximately $1 billion annually
and is expected to grow to $5-7 billion over the next 5 years, barring
unforeseen change (National Research Council Report,
2002).
- The total porn industry - estimates from $4 billion to $10 billion
(National Research Council Report, 2002).
- The two largest individual buyers of bandwidth are U.S. firms in the
adult online industry (National Research Council Report,
3-1, 2002).
- 40,000 expired domain names were porn-napped
(National Research Council).
- Commercial pornography sites:
- 74 percent display free teaser porn images on the homepage, often
porn banner ads.
- 66 percent did not include a warning of adult content.
- 11 percent included such a warning but did not have sexually
explicit content on the homepage.
- 25 percent prevented users from exiting the site (mousetrapping).
- Only 3 percent required adult verification.
(Child-Proofing on the World Wide Web: A Survey of Adult Webservers, 2001, Jurimetrics. National Research Council Report, 2002).
- 74 percent display free teaser porn images on the homepage, often
porn banner ads.
CHILD PORN
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed, in
a June 2005 study, that 40% of arrested child pornography possessors
had both sexually victimized children and were in possession of child
pornography (also known as “dual offenders”). Both crimes
were discovered in the same investigation. Another 15% were “dual
offenders” who tried to victimize children by soliciting undercover
investigators who posed as minors online. Overall 36% of “dual
offenders” showed or gave child pornography to identified victims
or undercover investigators posing as minors online.
- Of those arrested in the U.S. for the possession of child pornography
between 2000 and 2001, 83% had images involving children between ages
6 and 12; 39% had images involving children between ages 3 and 5; and
19% had images of infants and toddlers under age 3 (National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Child Pornography Possessors
Arrested in Internet-Related Crimes: Findings from the National Juvenile
Online Victimization Study. Virginia: National Center for Missing
& Exploited Children, 2005).
- According to a National Children’s Homes report, the number
of Internet child pornography images has increased 1500% since 1988.
- Approximately 20% of all Internet pornography involves children (National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Internet Sex Crimes
Against Minors: The Response of Law Enforcement. Virginia: National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2003).
- Child pornography has become a $3 billion annual industry (Ropelato,
Jerry. Top Ten Reviews. Top Ten Reviews, Inc. 5 Dec. 2005 <http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html>).
- According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC), child pornography reports increased 39% in 2004. Ernie Allen,
president and CEO of NCMEC, states that the statistics show a significant
and steady increase in child pornography reports for the seventh year.
- More than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the Internet
every week (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Children, 10/8/03).
- 140,000 child pornography images were posted to the Internet according
to researchers who monitored the Internet over six weeks. Twenty children
were estimated to have been abused for the first time and more than
1,000 images of each child created (National Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 10/8/03).
- More than half of all illegal sites reported to the Internet Watch
Foundation are hosted in the United States. Illegal sites in Russia
have more than doubled from 286 to 706 in 2002 (National
Criminal Intelligence Service, 8/21/03).
- Demand for pornographic images of babies and toddlers on the Internet
is soaring (Prof. Max Taylor, Combating Paedophile Information
Networks in Europe, March 2003).
- More babies and toddlers are appearing on the net and the abuse is
getting worse. It is more torturous and sadistic than it was before.
The typical age of children is between six and 12, but the profile is
getting younger (Prof. Max Taylor, Combating Paedophile
Information Networks in Europe, March 2003).
- Approximately 20 new children appear on the porn sites every month
- many kidnapped or sold into sex (Combating Paedophile
Information Networks in Europe, March 2003).
- In the last couple of years, we've just seen such young children
on regular seizures - babies, 2-, 3-, 4-year-olds (Det.
Sgt. Paul Gillespie, Toronto Police Force).
- The U.S. Customs Service estimates that there are more than 100,000
Web sites offering child pornography - which is illegal worldwide. Revenue
estimates for the industry range from about $200 million to more than
$1 billion per year. These unlawful sexual images can be purchased as
easily as shopping at Amazon.com. "Subscribers" typically use credit
cards to pay a monthly fee of between $30 and $50 to download photos
and videos, or a one-time fee of a few dollars for single images. (Red
Herring Magazine, 1/18/02).
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
- A New Zealand Internal Affairs study suggests that there is an association
between viewing child pornography and committing child sexual abuse
(New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs.
Internet Traders of Child Pornography: Profiling Research. By
Caroline Sullivan. October 2005. January 10, 2006. < http://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/URL/Profilingupdate2.pdf/$file/Profilingupdate2.pdf>).
- A study of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that
one in six men reported being sexually abused as children. Almost 40
percent of the perpetrators were female (Long-Term Consequences
of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Gender of Victim. Volume 28, Issue 5. The
American Journal of Preventive Medicine. June 2005).
- One in four women reported childhood sexual abuse and in most cases
perpetrated by males (Long-Term Consequences of Childhood
Sexual Abuse by Gender of Victim. Volume 28, Issue 5. The
American Journal of Preventive Medicine. June 2005).
MOBILE PORN
- In 2005, worldwide revenue from mobile phone pornography is expected
to rise to $1 billion and could grow to three times that number or more
within a few years (Bryan-Low, Cassel and Pringle, David.
“Sex Cells: Wireless Operators Find That Racy Cellphone Video
Drives Surge in Broadband Use.” The Wall Street Journal.
May 12, 2005.)
- According to IDC, a technology research firm, by the end of 2004 approximately
21 million 5- to 19-year-olds had wireless phones.
- One-third of youth ages 11 to 17 have their own cell phones today;
it is expected that half will have them within the next two years (English,
Bella. “The Secret Life of Boys: Pornography is a Mouse Click
Away, and Kids Are Being Exposed To It In Ever-Increasing Numbers.”
The Boston Globe May 12, 2005. December 15, 2005 <http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2005/05/12/the_secret_life_of_boys/>).
- Adult content on mobile telephones and other portable devices is anticipated
to hit $1 billion in worldwide revenues during 2005, according to market
research firm Juniper Research. (Juniper Research, "Adult
to Mobile: Personal Services," February 2005)
- The Juniper report said a 50 percent hike in mobile porn revenues
for 2005 over 2004 is likeliest to come from Europe and the Asia-Pacific
regions, but by 2009 the world mobile porn market could well enough
hit $2.1 billion. (Juniper Research, "Adult to
Mobile: Personal Services," February 2005)
ONLINE SEXUAL PREDATORS
- Law enforcement officials estimate that as many as 50,000 sexual predators
are online at any given moment (Dateline, January 2006).
- Internet pedophiles are increasingly adopting counter-intelligence
techniques to protect themselves from being traced (National
Criminal Intelligence Service, 8/21/03).
- Forty percent of people charged with child pornography also sexually
abuse children, police say. But finding the predators and identifying
the victims are daunting tasks (Reuters, 2003).
- One in five children who use computer chatrooms has been approached
over the Internet by pedophiles. (Detective Chief Superintendent
Keith Akerman, Telegraph.co.uk January 2002).
- 89% of sexual solicitations were made in either chat rooms or Instant
Messages. (Pew Study reported in JAMA, 2001).
- 13 million youth use Instant Messaging. (Pew Study
reported in JAMA, 6/01).
- 1 in 5 received sexual solicitation or approach in last year. (Online
Victimization, NCMEC, June 2000).
- 1 in 33 received AGGRESSIVE sexual solicitation (asked to meet, called
them via phone, sent mail, money or gifts). (Online
Victimization, NCMEC, June 2000)
- 25% of youth who received sexual solicitation told a parent. (Online
Victimization, NCMEC, June 2000).
- 1 in 4 kids participate in Real Time Chat. (FamilyPC
Survey, 2000).
YOUTH
- Half of teens ages 13-18 often communicate through the Internet with
someone they have not met in person (Internet Safety:
Realistic Strategies & Messages for Kids Taking More and More Risks
Online. December 21, 2005. Polly Klaas Foundation. February 17, 2006
< http://www.pollyklaas.org/internet-safety/pkfsummary.pdf>).
- One-third of youth ages 8-18 have talked about meeting someone they
have only met through the Internet (Internet Safety:
Realistic Strategies & Messages for Kids Taking More and More Risks
Online. December 21, 2005. Polly Klaas Foundation. February 17, 2006
< http://www.pollyklaas.org/internet-safety/pkfsummary.pdf>).
- Almost one in eight youth ages 8-18 discovered that someone they
were communicating with online was an adult pretending to be much younger
(Internet Safety: Realistic Strategies & Messages
for Kids Taking More and More Risks Online. December 21, 2005. Polly
Klaas Foundation. February 17, 2006 <http://www.pollyklaas.org/internet-safety/pkfsummary.pdf
>).
- The entire study is online at: http://www.pollyklaas.org/internet-safety/pkfsummary.pdf
(Polly Klaas Foundation, 2005)
- “30% of teenage girls polled by the Girl Scout Research Institute
said they had been sexually harassed in a chatroom. Only 7%, however,
told their mothers or fathers about the harassment because they were
worried that their parents would ban them from going online” (Girl
Scout Research Institute, 2002).
- “86% of the girls polled said they could chat online without
their parents’ knowledge, 57% could read their parents’
e-mail, and 54% could conduct a cyber relationship” (Girl
Scout Research Institute, 2002).
- According to a New Zealand Internal Affairs study, the largest single
age group viewing child pornography is young people aged 15 to 19, accounting
for a quarter of 202 convicted child porn users. (New
Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs. Internet Traders
of Child Pornography: Profiling Research. By Caroline Sullivan.
October 2005. January 10, 2006. < http://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/URL/Profilingupdate2.pdf/$file/Profilingupdate2.pdf>).
- More than 11 million teens regularly view porn online (“Protecting
Kids Online.” Editorial. The Washington Post, July 1, 2004).
- 81% of parents of online teens say that teens aren’t careful
enough when giving out information about themselves online and 79% of
online teens agree with this (Family, Friends &
Community: Protecting Teens Online, Amanda Lenhart, March 17, 2005,
Pew Internet & American Life Project, December 12, 2005 <http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/152/report_display.asp>).
- 65% of all parents and 64% of all teens say that teens do things online
that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about (Family,
Friends & Community: Protecting Teens Online, Amanda Lenhart,
March 17, 2005, Pew Internet & American Life Project, December 12,
2005 <http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/152/report_display.asp>).
- 42% of parents do not review the content of what their teenager(s)
read and/or type in chat rooms or via instant messaging. 58% do (Parents’
Internet Monitoring Study. June 2005. Cox Communications, The National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and NetSmartz. December 14,
2005 < http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/includes/docs/results.pdf>).
- Teenagers use chat lingo to communicate when Instant Messaging and
parents don’t know the meanings of some of the most commonly used
phrases. 57% don’t know LOL (laughing out loud), 68% don’t
know BRB (be right back), and 92% don’t know A/S/L (age/sex/location)
(Parents’ Internet Monitoring Study. June
2005. Cox Communications, The National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, and NetSmartz. December 14, 2005 < http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/includes/docs/results.pdf>).
- 95% of parents didn’t recognize common chat room lingo that
teenagers use to let people they’re chatting with know that their
parents are watching. Those phrases are POS (parent over shoulder) and
P911 (parent alert) (Parents’ Internet Monitoring
Study. June 2005. Cox Communications, The National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children, and NetSmartz. December 14, 2005 < http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/includes/docs/results.pdf>).
- In 26% of cases where youth accidentally stumbled into pornographic
websites, the youth stated being exposed to another sex website when
they were attempting to exit the initial website (Mitchell,
K.J., Finkelhor, and D., Wolak, J. “The Exposure of Youth to Unwanted
Sexual Material on the Internet: A National Survey of Risk, Impact,
and Prevention”. Youth & Society, 34 (2003): 330-358).
- 23% of youth were “very” or “extremely upset”
by exposures to sexual content online (Mitchell, K.J.,
Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. “Victimization of Youths on the Internet.”
The Victimization of Children: Emerging Issues. Ed. J.L. Mullings,
J.W. Marquart, and D.J. Hartley. New York: Haworth Maltreatment &Trauma
Press, 2003).
- Adolescents’ access to sexual and reproductive health information
is minimally affected by pornography-blocking software. For example,
only 5% of online health information was filtered out by pornography-blocking
software when installed at moderate settings while blocking 90% of pornographic
content (Richardson, C.R., Resnick, P.J., Hansen, D.L.,
Derry, H.A., & Rideout, V.J. “Does pornography-blocking software
block access to health information on the Internet?” Journal
of the American Medical Association, 288(22), (2002): 2887-2894).
- 23% of parents have rules about what their kids can do on the computer
(The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study, March
2005).
- 25% of 7th- to 12th-graders with a computer at home say it has a
filter or parental controls on it (The Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation Study, March 2005).
- 31% of 7th- to 12th-graders pretended to be older to get onto a website
(The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study, March
2005).
- Nearly all young people have used a computer (98%) and gone online
(96%) (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study,
March 2005).
- In a typical day, just over half (54%) of all young people use a
computer for recreation (The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation Study, March 2005).
- Nearly one-third (31%) of 8- to 18-year-olds have a computer in their
bedroom, and one in five (20%) have an Internet connection there (The
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study, March 2005).
- About half of young people (48%) go online from home, 20% from school,
and 16% from someplace else (The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation Study, March 2005).
- Among the 96% of young people who have ever gone online, 65% say
they go online most often from home, 14% from school, 7% from a friend’s
house, and 2% from a library or other location (The
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study, March 2005).
- One in ten young people (13%) reports having a handheld device that
connects to the Internet (The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation Study, March 2005).
- The most common recreational activities young people engage in on
the computer are playing games and communicating through instant messaging
(The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study, March
2005).
- The Kaiser Family Foundation found that among teens online, 70 percent
have accidentally come across pornography on the Web (Kaiser
Family Foundation).
- A study by the NOP Research Group found that of the four million
children aged seven to 17 who surf the net, 29% percent would freely
give out their home address and 14% would freely give out their e-mail
address if asked. (Telegraph.co.uk January 2002)
- Nine out of 10 children aged between eight and 16 have viewed pornography
on the Internet. In most cases, the sex sites were accessed unintentionally
when a child, often in the process of doing homework, used a seemingly
innocent sounding word to search for information or pictures. (London
School of Economics January 2002).
- The Kaiser Family Foundation's study on teens' use of the Internet
for health information has some shocking findings:
Pornography and Internet Filtering Among all 15-24 year-olds:
- Two-thirds (67%) support the law requiring Internet filters at
schools and libraries.
- Two out of three (65%) say being exposed to online pornography
could have a serious impact on those under 18.
- A majority (59%) think seeing pornography on the Internet encourages young people to have sex before they're ready.
Among the 95% of all 15-17 year-olds who have ever gone online:
- Seventy percent have accidentally stumbled across pornography
online, 23% "very" or "somewhat" often.
- A majority (55%) of those who were exposed to pornography say
they were "not too" or "not at all" upset by it, while 45% were
"very" or "somewhat" upset.
- A third (33%) of those with home Internet access have a filtering
technology in place there. Among the 76% of all 15-17 year-olds
who have sought health information online:
- Nearly half (46%) say they have been blocked from non-pornographic
sites by filtering technology.
(The Kaiser Family Foundation, 2001)
- Two-thirds (67%) support the law requiring Internet filters at
schools and libraries.
ADULTS
- 32 million women had visited at least one pornography website in
one month of 2004 alone (Paul, Pamela. Pornified:
How Pornography is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our
Families. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2005).
- 41% of women said they had deliberately viewed or downloaded pornographic
pictures and movies (Paul, Pamela. Pornified: How
Pornography is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2005).
- Cyber-sex is the crack cocaine of sexual addiction. (Dr.
Robert Weiss, Sexual Recovery Institute, Washington Times 1/26/2000).
- Cyber-sex reinforces and normalizes sexual disorders. (Dr.
Robert Weiss, Sexual Recovery Institute, Washington Times 1/26/2000).
- Cyber-sex is a public health hazard exploding because very few are
recognizing it as such or taking it seriously. (MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne
Study; Associated Press Online, 2/29/2000).
- 57 million Americans have Internet access. (MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne
Study, 2000).
- 25 million Americans visit cyber-sex sites between 1-10 hours per
week. Another 4.7 million in excess of 11 hours per week. (MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne
Study, Washington Times, 1/26/2000).
- At least 200,000 Internet users are hooked on porn sites, X-rated
chat rooms or other sexual materials online. (MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne
Study, Associated Press Online, 2/29/2000).
- MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne Study, 2000
- Men prefer visual erotica twice as much as women
- Women favor chat rooms twice as much as men
- Women had slightly lower rate of sexually compulsive Internet behavior
- 70% keep their habit a secret
CHRISTIANS AND SEXUAL BROKENNESS
- One out of every six women, including Christians, struggles with an
addiction to pornography. That's 17 percent of the population, which,
according to a survey by research organization Zogby International,
is the number of women who truly believe they can find sexual fulfillment
on the Internet (Today's Christian Woman, September/October
2003).
- " ' More than 80 percent of women who have this addiction take
it offline,' " says Marnie Ferree. " 'Women, far more than
men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having
multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs' " (Today's
Christian Woman, September/October 2003).
- 51% of pastors say cyberporn is a possible temptation. 37% say it is a current struggle (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, December 2001). 4 in 10 pastors have visited a porn site (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, December 2001).
HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING
- $19 Billion generated annually on the street from human trafficking
(Christine Dolan, The Global Coalition to End Human
Trafficking NOW).
PUBLIC OPINION
- Eight out of ten Americans (81%) believe federal laws against Internet
obscenity should be vigorously enforced, and seven out of ten (70%)
believe that strongly. A higher percentage of women support vigorous
enforcement of federal laws against Internet obscenity than men -- 90%
versus 72% (Wirthlin Survey, 2002).
- On the other hand, seven out of ten Americans (70%) say they do not
believe these laws are currently being vigorously enforced (Wirthlin
Survey, 2002).
MISCELLANEOUS
- According to Sex on TV 4, a Kaiser Family Foundation study
(November, 2005), the number of television sexual scenes has almost
doubled since 1998. 70% of all shows have some sexual content -- averaging
5 sexual scenes per hour compared to 56% and 3.2 scenes per hour respectively
in 1998.
- According to Sex on TV 4, a Kaiser Family Foundation study
(November, 2005), among the top 20 most popular shows among teens, 70%
include sexual content and almost half (45%) include sexual behavior.
- An estimated 204.3 million people, or 74.9 percent of the U.S. population above the age of two and living in households equipped with a fixed-line phone, have Internet access (Nielson Media Research).
- 57% of U.S. Internet users incorrectly believe that when a website has a privacy policy, it protects their personal information from being shared with other sites or companies (Annenberg Center).
- Although no connection between legal porn viewing and criminal behavior has ever been proven, police have seen a steady increase in porn associated with crimes (Lt. Matt Bilodeau, spokesman for the Cache County Sheriff's Department, Associated Press, 10/17/04).
- The adult-film industry is bigger than ever, making some
6,000 movies a year and grossing more than $4 billion - roughly as much as the National Football League (New York Post, Russell Scott Smith, 9/25/03).
HARMS OF PORN
- The Impact of Internet Pornography on Marriage and the Family: A Review
of the Research (http://new.heritage.org/Research/Family/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=85273)
- Just Harmless Fun: Understanding the Impact of Pornography
(http://www.enough.org/justharmlessfun.pdf )