Harris, which surveyed 997, claims 95 percent accuracy.
Following are overall results for the single question asked in the survey — “Do you consider it to be morally acceptable to view pornographic websites and videos?”:
Yes — 21 percent No — 73 percent Not Sure — 4 percent Refuse to answer — 2 percent
According to the poll, women more frequently had a negative opinion of adult entertainment, with 81 percent of those surveyed saying they found it morally objectionable. On the other hand, 44 percent of men ages 18 to 34 said they have no objection to adult websites.
Morality in Media wasted no time issuing a press release claiming the poll proves a majority of Americans would like to see an end to adult entertainment, and other conservative groups and media outlets, such as Concerned Women for America and CitizenLink, issued similar press releases and editorials.
According to Morality in Media President Robert W. Peters, the survey refutes the notion that mainstream America has become accepting of adult entertainment.
“Those who defend pornography, whether in court or in the court of public opinion, point to the proliferation of this sordid material as proof either that everyone is viewing it or that people no longer deem pornography unacceptable,” Peters said. “The porn defenders overlook at least three factors.
"First, much if not most pornography is consumed by a relatively small percentage of males who are hooked on it. Second, just because a person, whether out of curiosity or at a weak moment or for a period of time, views pornography does not mean he has become a devotee of it. This is especially true when Internet pornographers use aggressive and unscrupulous means to bring people to their websites, including porn spam, using innocent-sounding domain names and common misspellings of websites, buying up expired domain names, manipulating search engine results and mouse trapping. Third, even among long- term users, not all approve of their own behavior. Many addicts hate what they do.”
Peters also criticized adult webmasters for allegedly failing to take appropriate steps to verify proof of age and the U.S. Supreme Court for failing to uphold laws intended to restrict children’s access to adult material online.
