The latest Internet dzieci (Children's Internet) report, produced by the State Commission for Preventing the Sexual Exploitation of Minors Under the Age of 15, together with the Institute for Digital Citizenship Foundation, Polish Internet Research, and the research company Gemius, found that porn sites ranked among the 10 most visited internet domains by children aged 7 to 14 in the second quarter of 2025.
The report said 930,000 children in that age group visited a pornographic service at least once in April, with around 1 million doing so in May and again in June. The study found that such sites drew more child visitors than Wikipedia during the same period.
Commenting on the findings, sex educator Wojciech Ronatowicz said: "We may be facing an epidemic of pornography addiction."
He told Poland's PAP news agency that pornography can present distorted expectations about relationships and bodies, and that it often depicts the objectification of women or sexual violence.
Ronatowicz said curiosity about the body and development is a normal part of growing up, and he warned that leaving young people to learn from vulgar or misleading material online can carry serious social consequences such as an increase in underage pregnancies, spread of sexually transmitted diseases or youth prostitution.
In September, the Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs sent back into public consultation a draft law aimed at protecting minors from pornographic content online.
The proposal would require pornography platforms to verify users’ age, rather than relying on a simple click, declaring that the visitor is over 18.
Ronatowicz noted that proposals for mandatory age verification have circulated for years, including a draft law from 2006.
"We adults have not done our homework for two decades," he said.
He pointed to research by the Empowering Children Foundation indicating that 58 percent of children who had encountered pornography said they came across it accidentally, while 31 percent said they had actively searched for it.
Ronatowicz warned that children exposed to pornography are more likely to engage in risky online sexual behavior, including sexting, the exchange of sexually explicit messages or images, and live webcam sexting.
He argued that parents often struggle to talk with children about sexuality, and called for stronger state support for psychosexual education.
From the 2025-2026 school year, a new, optional health education class has replaced the previous "family life education" course in grades 4–8 of primary school and in secondary schools.
The education ministry has said around 30 percent of eligible students are taking the subject this school year.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP