More children seeing violent porn online compared with two years ago

The number of children saying they have seen pornography online has risen in the past two years according to a new report.

Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza warned her research also showed that harmful and explicit content is being presented to young people through algorithms.

Half of the children who responded to the survey said they had seen pornography involving strangulation, while 44% said they had seen a depiction of rape.

Some six year olds and younger said they had seen porn online.

Compared to 2023, 70% of people said they had seen porn online before turning 18 compared to 64% two years ago.

A majority said they had seen porn online accidently, a rise from 38% in 2023.

The X platform remains the most common source of pornography for children, with 45% saying they had seen it there compared with 35% seeing it on dedicated porn sites.

The research was done in May, before new age verification rules came into force. Commenting on the new age gates, Dame Rachel de Souza said the measures: "provide a real opportunity to make children's safety online a non-negotiable priority for everyone: policymakers, big tech giants and smaller tech developers.

Separate research by the Molly Rose Foundation analysed content on Instagram and TikTok from November until June this year.

It found evidence that on teenage accounts that had engaged with suicide, self-harm and depression posts, algorithms continued to 'bombard young people with a tsunami of harmful content on Instagram Reels and TikTok's For You page.

Mr Russell, the foundation's chairman said: "It is staggering that, eight years after Molly's death, incredibly harmful suicide, self-harm and depression content like she saw is still pervasive across social media."