Research reveals parents, teens prefer conversations over porn-blocking tech

With online pornography just a click away for most young people, policy makers are turning to porn-blocking technology to prevent minors from accessing explicit content online.

These include tools like language processing, facial recognition, age verification systems, and kid-safe search engines.

But new research from the Burnet Institute, published in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, found that while parents and children were mostly supportive of age verification, they were skeptical about the effectiveness of current technologies and preferred conversations to address the risks of accessing pornography.

Burnet deputy program director (Disease Elimination), Associate Professor Megan Lim, said the study highlighted a gap between the proposed solutions and what parents and teens actually wanted.

“Parents and teens preferred age-appropriate conversations as the best way to address the risks of online pornography, but many parents were not sure how to approach it and felt they needed more resources to help them,” she said.

While the average age for intentional pornography viewing is 13 years, many young people accidentally encounter it even earlier. This accidental exposure can be more harmful than intentional viewing, often causing shock and distress for young people who stumble across it.

Parents and teens (aged 15–17 years) who took part in the study generally supported porn-blocking technologies as a first line of defense for preventing young children from accidentally encountering porn. But the study found they were less confident about the effectiveness of these solutions to prevent intentional viewing.

The study also raised concerns about young people’s ability to circumvent parental control software by using alternative devices, seeking access through siblings or friends, or using emojis and slang to bypass restrictions.

“For young teenage boys, an eggplant [emoji] signifies something different,” one parent said, referring to ways teenagers have evaded censorship controls on social media.

Parents and teens also had concerns about privacy and security issues, especially regarding the use of biometric data.

“We need more community consultations and testing to ensure users are comfortable with these technologies before they’re rolled out,” Associate Professor Lim said.

“More research is also needed to explore varying needs and experiences across different cultures, to ensure the technology is appropriate for everyone.”