Overview

• The Children's Commissioner's May survey of roughly 1,020 people aged 16–21 found 70% said they had seen pornography before age 18, up from 64% in 2023, with an average first exposure age of 13 and 27% reporting exposure by age 11.
• Accidental exposure rose sharply to 59% in 2025 from 38% in 2023, and social networking sites accounted for the majority of sources, with X (formerly Twitter) cited by 45% of respondents and dedicated porn sites by 35%.
• Respondents reported widespread viewing of violent or illegal content as children — 58% saw depictions of strangulation, 44% saw sex while someone was asleep, and 36% saw non-consensual acts — and those exposed were more likely to endorse coercive attitudes about consent.
• The report, completed before Ofcom's children's codes came into force in July under the Online Safety Act, warns that algorithmic recommendations and legal tools such as VPNs could limit the new rules' effectiveness and recommends stronger legal and education measures.
• Tech firms including Meta and TikTok disputed the report's methodology and highlighted teen-account protections and proactive removals, while separate research from the Molly Rose Foundation found Instagram and TikTok algorithms continued to surface self-harm content to teenage accounts, prompting calls for tougher enforcement.