Study Shows Britain is Fastest Growing Market for Online Porn

Digital Journal — Britain has officially become the fastest growing pornography market in the world, after a study shows a record number of men and women are downloading smut. In the first definitive study of the country’s consumption of pornography, research by Nielsen NetRatings showed more than nine million men (almost 40 per cent of the male population) visited porn websites last year. The Nielsen survey also showed that British women are among the rapidly expanding population who go online for pornography (in the past 12 months alone, the number has increased 30 per cent to 1.4 million users) and more than half of all children (seven million) have encountered pornography on the internet “while looking for something else.” According to the study, British Internet surfers also look up the word "porn" more than anyone in the English-speaking world. The extent to which Brits go online for pornography has never been accurately measured. Analysts suggest the online surge mirrors the boom in people buying hardcore sex movies which have become more readily available over the past few years. In the U.K., film censors passed more hardcore sex movies than 18-rated flicks last year. While many Brits welcomed the news saying it’s an indication the country is more sexually liberated, others were concerned, as they believe pornography is contributing to relationship break-ups. Experts in Britain say as many as 40 per cent of couples with problems believe pornography contributed to difficulties. Phillip Hodson of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy told The Independent that this new generation of "voyeurs" risk problems in their love lives. "The internet has made sex-lazy men even sex-lazier where they get lost in their own world," he added. "It used to be said that men neglected foreplay, but now they are neglecting sex." The British porn industry is worth about £1 billion ($1.86 billion US) while the worldwide adult website industry has an estimated value of about £20 billion ($37.2 billion US).