Opinion | Billie Eilish’s experience of the harmful effects of online porn should be a wake-up call to lawmakers
- The American singer says she was first exposed to online pornography at 11; a recent survey in Hong Kong shows she is not alone
- Clearly, new laws are needed to ensure internet service providers and operators of adult websites are not allowing children to access damaging content
American singer Billie Eilish recently revealed that she was exposed to “abusive” pornography from the age of 11, leaving her “devastated”.
The Grammy award-winner, now 20, said these experiences “destroyed” her brain, poisoned her personal relationships and gave her nightmares. Nobody, she said, explained to her that watching pornography could be harmful. Instead, she saw it as a form of sexual education.
Eilish’s comments highlight the damaging effects of being exposed to pornography at a young age. While these effects can vary according to factors such as age and content, psychological problems are far from rare, particularly once addiction sets in.
When asked how frequently they watched pornography, 42 per cent of respondents reported watching it once or twice a week, while about 10 per cent watched it every day.
Moreover, the association found that of those participants who reported first coming into contact with pornography as a teenager, almost 30 per cent had at least once experienced a desire to have sexual contact with children or teenagers, while around 11 per cent admitted to acting on those urges.
