By Dalitso Koroma, Policy Officer for CEASE
Did you know the most searched porn term of 2024 was inspired by TikTok?
What was once a platform for dance challenges and lip-synch videos is now shaping how people view sex.
According to the 2024 Pornhub Year in Review, the term “demure and mindful” gained huge popularity, originating from a viral TikTok video with over 50 million views. At first glance, this might seem like a positive shift towards more respectful attitudes in pornography. Other trending terms like “modesty” (+77%) and “respectful sex” (+61%) reinforce this idea. Beneath the surface, however, pornography remains deeply embedded in exploitative structures. The demand for degrading content like “spitting” (+233%), “bukkake” (+125%) and “gangbang” (+36%), shows how the industry still thrives on aggression and non-consensual acts, especially toward women.
Even more concerning is the growing role of influencers targeting younger audiences, not just as consumers but as active participants, by promoting fame and financial freedom.
The lack of proper age verification on platforms like Pornhub worsens this issue, allowing minors easy access to explicit content. A report by the Children’s Commissioner for England revealed a disturbing truth: by 13 years old, 50% of young people have been exposed to pornography, with 27% seeing it by the age of 11, and 10% by the age of nine.
Pornhub’s 2024 review also highlights that over half of its users are between 18 and 35, though this number could be even higher if younger viewers were accounted for. This situation highlights the deepening problem of how easily young people are exposed to explicit material in a world where the lines between social media and pornography are increasingly blurred.
It’s also hard to ignore another disturbing global trend highlighted in the 2024 Pornhub Review; France has surged to second place in top countries by traffic.
This rise in consumption is even more troubling given the Pelicot case, which exposed the scale at which a woman’s safety and dignity were subordinate to her husband’s desire to use her and sell her to others for sex. This is a power dynamic which is ubiquitous in the pornography industry: women are objects for men to use.
Yet, Pornhub has attempted to make sense of France taking global second place for traffic to its site by repeatedly crediting the excitement surrounding the Paris Olympics. They further normalise this rise of consumption patterns by going so far as to label watching pornography as “self-care”.
But this isn’t just about viewing habits, it points to a larger, more dangerous issue: the normalisation of violent and misogynistic portrayals of women in pornography.
The Year in Review statistics reveals that 27 out of the 30 most viewed performers on Pornhub in 2024 were women, highlighting the continued objectification of women in the industry. When paired with the rise in misogynistic search terms, it paints a troubling picture: one that helps explain the 37% rise in sexual offences in the UK, including a 7.4% increase in 2024 alone.
The 2024 Pornhub Year in Review reveals trends that cannot be ignored:
- The continued rise in consumption of violent and degrading pornography.
- The role of social media platforms like TikTok in normalising explicit content.
- The lack of safeguards to protect minors, allowing younger consumers easy access to explicit material.
As the lines between social media and pornography blur, it’s more important than ever to consider the long-term effects of what we are consuming as a society.