For a long while within the IWF we've debated whether it is right for us to engage with teenagers. But the facts speak for themselves - young people under 18 are viewing adult content. Surely if we ignore this, we put them at risk by not providing them with the information they need to report these images?
The internet changed the game considerably, with vast amounts of adult films and images becoming easily and instantly accessible. Whether or not this is a good or bad thing is constantly debated, but one thing is very clear - it's not going away. So that really leaves one question - what's going to happen next?
We're concerned at the NSPCC that easy access to hardcore pornography is warping young people's views of what is 'normal' or acceptable sexual behaviour. Adults have a choice about what to watch within the law, but my concern is that the internet is exposing ever younger eyes to things they are just not yet ready to process. They are learning about sex from porn and not from proper respectful relationships. Much of the material is violent and simply vile; it paints a picture of sex as one sided that has no basis in love or respect.
The ban will aim to censor 'violent' and 'hateful' porn that demeans women - a great idea in principle but who will decide what constitutes 'violent' and 'hateful' porn? Where does it leave non-vanilla sex - BDSM and other alternative genres? The US website Gawker quotes Justice Potter Stewart who said of hardcore pornography in a Supreme Court obscenity case: "I know it when I see it." Which is a worry.