Porn, the Pandemic That Is Attacking Our Children

Only days after Italy was locking down to protect its community against COVID-19, the porn industry was scheming about sinking its claws into an isolated chunk of humanity. Pornhub offered a free 30-day trial of its premium subscription during the pandemic to all Italian citizens, then to Spain and France. It has since decided to make its premium content free to anyone and everyone for a month.

They are also donating 50 thousand surgical masks and financial relief to sex workers during this pandemic.

Aww…how sweet, right?

Not really.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation quickly reminds us what sits behind Pornhub’s mask of generosity:

The “premium” content that Pornhub shills contains hardcore pornography that involves extreme violence against women, themes of incest, child abuse, teenage-themed videos, and racism (among other things). People would be remiss to accept Pornhub’s degrading offer, especially given how Pornhub continues to propagate and profit from sexual abuse and exploitation on a daily basis.

Porn thrives in isolation.

PornHub’s offer is actually an invitation for adults and teens to develop a lifelong addiction. Long after the current pandemic is over, porn addiction will remain.

On March 25, the day it offered free premium to everyone, traffic to the site was over 24% higher than it was in February.

Recently, I checked TikTok for what people might be saying about COVID-19. Remember, around 41% of TikTok’s over 500 million users are between the ages of 16 and 24.

As I scrolled past funny videos of how teens are celebrating birthdays during this outbreak, what stood out to me more were the many blatant videos of young users admitting they were excited about the free premium PornHub membership. One young woman lamented that so many users were on PornHub that she was unable to login. Another woman posted that she was so starved from the natural endorphins released during social interactions that she was forced to porn in order to feel happy again.

COVID-related isolation is also causing problems for men and women at various stages of porn addiction recovery. A Reddit forum with over 500,000 members recovering from pornography addiction share these stories:

• “This corona s*** is killing me. Not the virus but the quarantine. I went to the gym every day and I was very active in my social life but now I have nowhere to go and nothing to do. I relapsed after 24 days.”
• “I already relapsed 9 times this month.”

Teens are online more now than ever. Pornhub knows this. Get them hooked now and they’re a customer for life.

All it takes is one look.

The Bible says that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9). It only takes one look at porn for a user to get hooked. While a physical image from a computer screen may fade, the mental image created will never go away.

Parents – remember this reality – even your good kid can get hooked on porn. Loving Jesus doesn’t create immunity from this monster.

We are bold in our prediction that millions will leave quarantine with a new or a more severe addiction to porn. The reality is that many of us are not putting in the same effort to protect ourselves from porn as we are in washing our hands and quarantining our homes. Both are important. A porn addiction can damage families, ruin marriages, increase depression and linger with you for years.

Flatten the Porn Curve Today

Just like social distancing will help “flatten the curve” of spreading this horrible virus, Covenant Eyes can help “flatten the curve” of porn addiction. Covenant Eyes creates barriers between your children and porn, and encourages parent-child conversations about how they’re using their devices.

Wash your hands, practice social distancing, wear a mask, and #stayhome to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Use Covenant Eyes to stop the spread of the silent pandemic. Porn.