Online Pornography: Protecting Our Children and Our Families

1. Online Pornography:Protecting Our Childrenand Our Families • Dr. Charles D. Knutson • Brigham Young University • www.charlesknutson.net

2. The scope of the problem • Around 200 million websites • Around 63 billion publicly indexable web pages, 550 billion documents • Some studies suggest as many as 60% of all websites are pornographic in nature • Ignores pornographic or inappropriate content on non-pornographic sites • YouTube, Hulu, other streaming media sites

3. President Hinckley, 2004 I recently read that pornography has become a $57 billion industry worldwide. Twelve billion of this is derived in the United States by evil and "conspiring men" (see D&C 89:4) who seek riches at the expense of the gullible. It is reported that it produces more revenue in the United States than the "combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises or the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC."

4. President Hinckley, 2004 The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families states that "approximately 40 million people in the United States are sexually involved with the Internet. "One in five children ages 10–17 [has] received a sexual solicitation over the Internet. "Three million of the visitors to adult websites in September 2000 were age 17 or younger. "Sex is the number 1 topic searched on the Internet."

5. Some statistics • 90% of 8-16 year-olds have viewed online pornography • Most while doing homework • The average age of exposure to pornography now is nine years old • Changes in the brain during childhood and teen years compound pornography's effect • Protection of younger kids is especially critical

6. Some statistics • 34% of porn site hits are from girls • Girls begin to develop appetite from: • Teen magazines • Soap Operas/TV • Romance novels • The hook of pornography can be just as quick for girls as for guys

7. A huge statistic! Only 23% of households have any rules at all about what children can do online!

8. Fundamental questions • Should we even try to protect them from content? • They're going to be exposed sooner or later... • How much can the Internet really affect our children's lives? • Is it really that bad?

9. Fundamental questions • What can we do to help make the Internet a safer place for our children? • I don't even know where to start • What should we do when we discover we have a problem? • I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with that

10. Other challenging questions • Pres. Hinckley said to avoid it like a plague… So why don't people just stay away from it? • It's incredibly addictive • It's increasingly ubiquitous • How do you avoid a plague that's in your pocket? • It's not necessarily a place to avoid…

11. Four A's of Internet porn 1. Accessible • No need to travel to a particular part of town, or enter a particular store • Just a click away 2. Affordable • Lots of teaser material for free • So how do they make money? • Once you're hooked, you break out your credit card for quantity, quality, or coarseness

12. Four A's of Internet porn 3. Anonymous • Access is largely private and anonymous • Addiction can more easily be kept secret 4. Aggressive • Material is increasingly aggressive and predatorial • The material will come looking for you even if you're not looking for it

13. Factors for control • Internal control – Agency • The ultimate and only true protection • But remember that addiction inhibits agency… • External controls – Technology • Still need to protect ourselves from a technological perspective • We'll cover technology first…

14. Most common activities • Web browsing • Google searching, aimless surfing • Image searching and surfing • Social networking • Facebook, MySpace, other sites • Online chatting • Accessing media • Music files, watching streaming video • Peer-to-peer applications

15. Peer-to-peer applications • 90% of content shared in peer-to-peer applications is illegal or pornographic • Some applications load spyware and/or other malware on your computer • Kazaa, Grokster, Gnutella, Emule, Edonkey, BearShare, LimeWire • Dr. K sez: Not recommended!!

16. Web browsers • Kids often download browsers • Not the one you think they're using Internet Explorer 53% Firefox 31% Safari 3% Chrome 3% Opera 1%

17. Online searching • Google – Most popular search engine • Preferences • SafeSearch filtering – Three levels • Helps to mitigate accidental exposure • With SafeSearch off, high likelihood of turning up inappropriate content on almost any search phrase • Limitations • Anyone can change the settings • Still not foolproof

18. Online searching • Beware of image and video search • Much more difficult to filter images than text • When searching for text, search engines provide preliminary information to help you see what's on the page if you click through to it

19. Online searching • When searching for images, search engine presents thumbnail images • If inappropriate material turns up in the search… • It's immediately visible, even though somewhat small • It's already ingested • Which may trigger additional interest or desire to seek out addictive material

20. Example – Text search

21. Example – Image search

22. Software protection • Filtering • Access control • Reporting • Will talk about each of these in turn

23. Filtering principles • A very hard problem! • Missed content • False positives • Images much harder than text • Subjective values at play

24. Filtering principles • Black list • Known bad sites are always blocked • White list • Only known good sites are allowed • Dynamic content scan • Examine contents on the fly • Most software packages use all three approaches

25. Filtering solutions • Internet service providers (ISPs) • Filtering before content gets to your house • Browser software • Loaded directly on computer • Intercepts data going to the browser • Various price models • Configurable for particular concerns

26. Controlling access • User accounts on computer • e.g., Kids account with constantly changing password • No special software required • Separate accounts for each child • Potential management nightmare for parents

27. Controlling access • Software controls for time and date • If you're online when the time hits, will it shut down the pipe? • Most applications control web browsing, but not other Internet traffic • Rhapsody, Chess Live, iTunes, Chat, other specialized applications

28. Reporting software • All good software packages have some sort of reporting capability • Times, dates, sites visited, time spent • On target computer • Somewhat inconvenient • Remote, online access • Email notifications when problems

29. Detection • How do you know when inappropriate material has been accessed? • Manual • You have to know where to look • Software-assisted • Tools to help you with forensics

30. Browser history • Easy to read list of recent websites • Every browser has this capability • Every browser does this differently • Some allow selective deletion • All allow user to clear the history • Be concerned with empty history • Someone has cleared the history... • Why?

31. Cache • Folder containing all files associated with web browsing • Many files for each page • Every browser has a cache • Every browser does it differently • Clearing history generally does not clear the cache

32. Cookies • Small files with information pertaining to particular websites • Stores user name, password, other relevant information • That's how Amazon recognizes you when you show up • Generally located in the cache • Gives more clues about surfing

33. Dangers of manual recon • Danger of doing this alone • While verifying where the browser has been on the Web, possible to accidentally ingest the same material • Unlike discovering drug paraphernalia • Parents can become addicted too!

34. Forensic tools • Software is smart enough to know where to look • Some tools will detect deleted files • Some will obscure images to protect the person scanning the machine • Generally sold to law enforcement markets • Some tools available for home market

35. Other detection tools • Some tools allow you to look at a computer after the fact • Other tools have to be installed before inappropriate access occurs • Logs all web access (and some other applications like chat) • Grabs periodic screen capture • Used when strong suspicion of inappropriate access, but no evidence turns up

36. Other detection tools • Keyloggers capture all keystrokes entered on the machine • Often capture other information as well • Provides all text typed, including user names and passwords

37. Parental involvement • Safest possible way is to always surf with your children • May be impractical in a big family • Preemptive strike • Don't wait for an incident to teach • Periodic Family Home Evening lessons • Family Councils • Be very frank and direct

38. Parental involvement • Ask your children to show you what they do on the Internet • Be aware • Time spent on the computer • Spiritual impact on your child • Doesn't have to be "inappropriate" to have a severe negative effect • Does the screen change suddenly when you appear in the room?

39. Individual agency • Obvious ultimate issue • Children grow up, become adults, move out of the house • While young, they still have access outside your home • They must have an internal commitment to avoid evil • Cannot be mandated into them

40. When you find something • Don't overreact • If you're expecting it, easier to be calm • Relationship is a must • Honesty, open lines of communication

41. When you find something • Talk to them about the Spirit • How did you feel spiritually when you looked at that website? • Did the Spirit withdraw or come closer? Why?

42. Support and encouragement • Talk to them about true doctrine of sexuality • There's a reason that this material is attractive • Help them understand that this is a war, and they were attacked

43. Empowered parents • This is an issue that is within our rights as parents • We have permission to protect our children • Do not abdicate your responsibility in this area!

44. The myth of maturity • Inappropriate material is inappropriate for all ages • Not a "maturity" or "adult" issue! • No safe age for pornography • No safe station in life • Marriage is not a cure or a prevention • Neither is Church service

45. Take a stand • Don't be passive in your citizenship • Email a website whose advertisements are inappropriate • Kindly but firmly speak up wherever and whenever you see a site contributing to the over-sexualization of our society • Silence is consent!

46. Questions? • Internet Safety Podcast • www.internetsafetypodcast.com • Internet Safety Wiki • wiki.internetsafetypodcast.com Dr. Charles Knutson knutson@cs.byu.edu