The only problem? Her assertion may be false.
Despite the fact that Lincoln’s claim was picked up in numerous publications, and broadcast across the national news and on NBC’s “Today Show,” no hard evidence appears to exist that would suggest children begin to seek out Internet porn at such a young age.
“It may be overstated,” Michele Ybarra, of Internet Solutions for Kids, said of the claim.
In a recent study, ISK conducted a random sample survey of 1,500 children age 10-17, the results of which suggest kids do not begin looking for porn on the web until they’re closer to 14, which Ybarra says is a far more age-appropriate time to be “curious about sex.”
“It seems to suggest the Internet may not be posing the threat that some are concerned it is,” Ybarra said.
ASACP Executive Director Joan Irvine told XBiz that while she doesn’t have any statistics about the age children begin to seek out adult content, she believes that 14 or above would be more realistic.
“Also, the majority of the professional adult entertainment companies already have a disclaimer page with no images to present children from unknowingly viewing adult content,” Irvine said.
The paper trail following where Lincoln’s original claim comes from is as convoluted as much of the data anti-porn advocates use to attack the industry. Lincoln reportedly got the fact from a report conducted by Third Way, a Washington group that specializes in finding ways for Democrats to gain ground in traditionally Republican states.
Third Way reported it got the information from a May 12 story in the Boston Globe, which quoted a group called Family Safe Media.
Family Safe Media, which specializes in selling Internet filter software, said it got the information from Internet Filter Review, another website that touts content-blocking software.
IFR was founded by a man named Jerry Ropelato, a Huntsville, Utah resident who has written extensively on the dangers of pornography. Ropelato said he pulled the fact from a book called “The Drug of the New Millennium,” written by self-proclaimed porn addict Mark Kastleman in 2000.
According to Kastleman: “I don't remember where I got that [statistic] from.”