Safeguard social media.

[Solitaryconfinedcat]

Hi,

I have posted this on the feminist activism page too, but there appears to be more people here.

I would like to get porn off social media. I have written to my MP about this and have not received a reply. However the online harm bill is going through parliament this year so I think its a good time to put pressure on the government with regards to the scope of the bill.

I think porn should be off social media for a few reasons.

1. Children can have social media accounts. My interest in this started last year when I saw a instagram post by milrg cyrus had been spammed by porn bots linking to their sites in their bios. I think porn bots targeting pop starts posts is a deliberate attempt at them to engage with a young audience and get them hooked.

2. We are currently hearing about a sexual harassment crisis in schools. I think porn is one of the main contributors to this and that it is reshaping the world before our eyes. I dont think we can stop people from having access to porn, but I dont think it should be available on or through social media accounts children can create.

3. I am tired of porn and addiction to it, as being so normalised that men having instagram accounts so they can follow their favourite porn models is seen as fine. I am tired of cam girls and porn models using social media to increase their audience.

I would like porn regulation to go a lot further but I understand that's my own personal wish. However I think a lot of people would benefit from further regulations being put on social media.

Amy help you can give me would be appreciated thanks.

Are you aware of comments this week by Sajid Javid? Recognising the impact of online porn seems to be part of a range of demands being made in the report he led to reduce child sexual abuse in UK.
I haven't seen the actual report yet.

Channel 4
www.channel4.com/news/too-easy-for-boys-to-access-pornography-former-home-secretary-says

Sunday Mail
"Last night, the Tory MP – who has been tipped for a return to the Cabinet in the next reshuffle – called for sweeping changes to tackle child sexual abuse, including a demand for social media giant Facebook to abandon plans to encrypt its Messenger service, which would mean that abusive videos and images could be shared anonymously.

Mr Javid also calls for the reintroduction of school nurses to make it easier for children to report incidents of abuse to a trusted figure.

The 100-page report is the conclusions of a commission that Mr Javid led for The Centre for Social Justice think-tank, including experts and survivors of abuse. (continues)

The report makes 96 policy recommendations, across Government departments, including:

Restoring school nurse numbers to pre-2010 levels;
Training all school staff to spot signs of abuse;
A crackdown on internet bosses whose security features protect the identity of abusers;
New laws to curb live-streamed child sexual abuse;
A new ‘victim’s law’ to guarantee the rights of victims and support services;
Victims and survivors to be told when their abusers are released from prison to help them to avoid traumatic encounters;
A new law with harsher penalties for forcing children to carry drugs inside their bodies.
Mr Javid said: ‘We’re facing an epidemic of child sexual abuse in this country. Although the Government and industry are doing valuable work to protect children… sadly, the pandemic will have made things far, far worse."
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9410099/Thousands-sex-criminals-working-children-changing-names-warns-Sajid-Javid.html

No I hadn't thank you. This is hopeful. I might send to him what I sent to my own MP!

Also worth looking at the work being done by Object! as pornography is one of their five campaign focuses.

objectnow.org/about-us-2/

Ah I follow them and Cease on twitter.

It just seems with the schools being under scrutiny for harrassment people might start joining the dots on porns impact and real change could take place.

That's my hope anyway.

Are you also in touch with Safe Schools Alliance?

I share your hope that the dots will be joined and real change might take place.

No, I'm not.

I've done some reading about porn and addiction to it mostly because of how it's impacted my own dating life. Which has been hard to proces. Obviously men in their thirties make their own choices, but I do think there is an element of get the kids hooked when they're young and have life long customers. Despite the dangers regarding the type of porn you watch impacting your own sexual tastes and escalating over time. Now I think social media is one of the gateway to normalising this material and the pressures it puts on women to perform.

So I just really wondered whether writing to my MP aside there was something to do that could help get the issue more press. But I don't really have a lot of reach and my own family are bored of hearing me talk about it.

I do just really hope in a few years we look back and see this as a dark chapter and are talking from a happier space.

It would be worth contacting them as you are not alone in recognising the impact on children.

There's likely to be a number of people campaigning on similar lines, its often a relief to find those who are like-minded!

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/who-we-are/

Thank you ❤

OP I'm with you-after the whole 'everyones invited' hit the news, my sons school have dutifully emailed all parents to say they're saddened & horrified. I emailed the Head to say whilst we as parents can explain right & wrong to our sons, they as a school can try & keep children safe etc but it is the ease of access to online porn, which is the biggest problem. Porn has morphed into violence against women & young girls-it's not at all just 2 adults enjoying sex together. Until safeguarding around childrens access to online porn is strengthened, this problem is only going to get worse. It's not healthy for boys or girls and we are failing in our duty to protect them.

@happydappy2 yes the news I saw glossed over porn and was talking about parents. I don't think parents have control over the information that their kids can access tbh. I think knowing all the ways porn is accessible is a full time job of itself. And it was only through porn bots spamming miley cyrus that I even learnt they existed. How can you protect against things you don't know about?

Age verification technology has existed since 2017, but still hasn't been implemented. I dont see how the government can separate the rising violence against women and the raise of violence against women being eroticised in porn.

I'm sure if my MP had replied to my letter I wouldn't be writing here. I just feel like something needs to be done.

Solitary I explained to the Head that I feel like a bit of a lone voice regarding childrens easy access to porn but if Head teachers rallied together perhaps they could make a difference. We don't allow kids to gamble online so it can't be impossible to stop them viewing porn. I know some will find a way round but we need to stop kids stumbling across it accidentally.

@happydappy2 its hard feeling like the lone voice.

I debated doing an online petition but I could only guarantee the 5 signatures to start it and you need at least ten thousand to a response from government.

The teachers on my FB have talked about the problems with porn and the models on Instagram, so I wonder why they collectively aren't pointing out that schools aren't causing the problem....but the environment in which the problem is being exposed. If that makes sense.