Pornography: Its Harm to Children and What We Can Do About It
The Internet has revolutionized the way we live, work and play. Yet, there is a dark side.
“Soft porn” is disappearing and today the content is increasingly extreme, graphic, dehumanizing and often violent. And there is an explosion of free porn websites that are targeting the young. The developing brains of children are being bombarded with extreme pornography. Thirty years ago we could zone off pornography, regulate it, deny access to children, and require that material be covered by plain brown wrappers. In the Internet era, we can’t do that anymore. Unless we better protect our children, we will see future generations of damaged adults and great societal harm.
This presentation was given at the Utah Coalition Against Pornography Conference in Salt Lake City on March 12, 2016.
Ernie Allen
Principal
Allen Global Consulting LLC
Ernie Allen is a global expert on child abduction, sexual exploitation, human trafficking and the “Dark Web”. He speaks to global audiences on these issues and advises governments, law enforcement, technology companies and nonprofit organizations. Previously as the President and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children he created the national Missing Children’s hotline; the CyberTipline to report sexual exploitation; and brought forensic services and training to law enforcement. And he led efforts to implement new global policies on virtual currencies and the anonymous “Dark Web”; created new technologies to address child victimization; reduced a $30 million child pornography industry to zero; and addressed child victimization as a public health crisis.
