The young men of Gen Z are showing a growing support for “restricting pornography,” a July 2 study found.
In 2013, 51% of young men were in favor of “making it more difficult to access pornography online.” The study by American Enterprise Institute (AEI) found that 60% of “young men” today believe “accessing pornography online” should be more difficult.
The poll was conducted by AEI in March of this year to assess whether the “public is changing course” on cultural issues, one of them being towards online pornography.
“[T]he youngest [ages 18-24] and oldest [ages 55+] expressing the strongest support for increased restrictions,” the study found.
Gen Z men are more conservative on pornography restrictions than generations directly their senior. Generation X, ages 45-54, had the lowest support for online pornography restrictions at 47% and “just under half of men between age 25 and 54 support making online pornography more difficult to access.”
“Men in their 30s and 40s report the most frequent use of pornography,” the Institute for Family Studies reported.
In 2023, Louisiana started the domino effect of adding an age restriction for Pornhub, the infamous online distributor for online pornography. Since then, more states have followed suit. Pornhub now requires that users in certain states provide their drivers license to verify they are 18+.
SCOTUS ruled in favor of Texas’ age restriction in June to “prevent children from accessing speech that is obscene to children” even on social media, allowing Texas’ AG to take legal action again probable offenders, The Federalist’s Jordan Boyd reported.
“There’s a growing number of young men realizing that porn is addictive and destructive and can lead you to dark places,” senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies Brad Wilcox told The Federalist.
Gen Z is also in a “sex recession,” the New York Post reported. They are having less sex while being inundated with sex-related info on social media.
“This is the first truly online generation,” Wilcox said. “Gen X might be less worried about pornography since they were less exposed to today’s extreme online pornography.”
The reason for Gen Z becoming more supportive for pornography restrictions could be due to the generation becoming increasingly religious and the most conservative generation in decades.
Christianity is making its way back into the life of Gen Z, as the decline of Christianity “has slowed” and even “leveled off.” Along with this, seven in ten young voters believe in more abortion restrictions.
“As I’ve spoken to young men, there’s a sense that porn distorts their perception of women and it prevents them from developing the virtues that would make them good boyfriends and husbands,” Wilcox said.
AEI’s study also found that “43 percent [of young men] agree that society is better off when men and women stick to roles they are naturally suited to,” with only 29% of young women believing that.
Although he was surprised by the results, Wilcox said “This study is encouraging if it leads more young men to stay away from pornography.”
Abigail Nichols is a correspondent for The Federalist. She was previously the opinion editor for the University of South Florida’s student newspaper, The Oracle. She is now working as the business manager at the University of North Florida’s student-run media outlet, Spinnaker Media, while obtaining a Master’s Degree in Social work.
