Sex has become more stigmatised due to privacy concerns over the government’s recent mandate that people watching online pornography register their identity, according to a leading sexologist.
The move, which has seen traffic to some porn sites decline significantly, was introduced to prevent minors from being exposed to sexually explicit content and comes in the wake of the Australian government’s under-16 social media ban.
But, according to Dr Giselle Woodley, a sexologist and lecturer at Edith Cowan University, the privacy of consenting adults has been caught in the crossfire of the legislation’s competing concerns.
“[It’s] making sex more stigmatised,” she told Central News. “These are legal consenting adults who should have rights to freedom of expression and freedom to explore their desires in these online spaces.
“Regular engagement with sexual desires and a safe space to play online, that doesn’t actually hurt someone in real life can reduce sexual violence in society.”
People share the most intimate details in AI or on different platforms, we don’t quite realise how our data’s going to be used in future.
Age restrictions on social media platforms were put in place in December 2025, blocking teens from using popular social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok.
And three months later, in March 2026, Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, enforced the Verification Mandate for Adult Websites, saying: “Pornography is so pervasive and invasive that children are often stumbling across it by accident.”
While the government maintains it is protecting children from issues like cyberbullying, exposure to violence, and the influence of toxic online subcultures, others argue the porn ban has the potential to increase societal stigma around an already taboo topic of conversation.
“We always talk about the effect on young people, but forget about adults’ rights, which are important to consider,” said Dr Woodley.
“Privacy will be totally lost…. I think a lot of people don’t realise how important the right to privacy is.
“People share the most intimate details in AI or on different platforms, we don’t quite realise how our data’s going to be used in future.”
Annelyse Seymore. Photo: Eva Greifeneder.
Annelyse Seymore, 19, who works at Cloud Blvd, a lingerie store in central Sydney, said despite the under 16s social media ban, children were still being exposed to sexually explicit content
“From the day that it was banned, I was getting full-on porn videos on my Instagram reels,” Seymore said. “I’m not sure if this was happening to anyone else or if I was being targeted, but I was seeing straight-up porn.
“And, Twitter has always been a very sexual place, you know, like it’s always straight-up porn on Twitter.”
Australian porn users are now required to register an account by providing their full name, email, and age to verify their identity before gaining access to the sites.
Alternatively, VPNs allow users to remain anonymous and appear as though they are in a different country, bypassing Australian security restrictions.
“Privacy and confidentiality are compromised if they’re not using VPNs, while accessing the content… VPNs make them feel safer in their porn habits, and maybe that allows some people to go looking deeper,” says Dr Woodley.
Seymore added: “For my sister and a lot of her friends, the social media ban didn’t even work on them… she lost access to TikTok, and that was it. She still has Snapchat and Instagram, even though she’s 15 years old, and it’s the same thing with all of her friends – most of them have access to all their accounts still.
“Fifteen and 16 is about that age when you start discovering these kinds of ‘feelings’… So, I definitely think teenagers are going to be looking for other outlets.”
Recent data revealed just one week before the nationwide porn ban, VPN apps were skyrocketing on app charts. VPN Super Unlimited Proxy climbed from 40th to 7th place on the app store, Proton VPN from 174th to 19th, and NordVPN surged from 189th to 13th.
In February, a month before the ban was enforced, adult video website Pornhub, which is owned by Canadian entertainment giant Aylo, was the 8th most visited website globally and the most visited adult website in Australia, with 57.68 million hits.
But since the introduction of the new verification laws visits to Pornhub have declined sharply. Globally, the porn platform fell one place to 9th, and in Australia lost about 3 million hits, or 6 per cent of its traffic.
Despite government efforts to enforce age restrictions, numerous cases have emerged of children and teenagers still accessing publicly available social media content without logging into an account, raising concerns about the safety and integrity of online spaces.
Findings from eSafety’s Keeping Kids Safe Online survey, which nationally represents 3,454 Australian children aged 10 to 17, found 32 per cent of Australian children had encountered sexual images or videos online, and 23 per cent reported seeing sexually explicit content in the past year. While, a further 12 per cent of children had witnessed violent sexual material online.
“Positively, I’d say [children] under 12 are going to be less likely to stumble upon pop-up ads with porn, said Dr Woodley. “The ban will be amazing for those accidental, unintentional engagements.”
However, she added, the lines became blurred during teenage years, as young people looked for sexual education from porn.
“In our research, young people talk about porn offering them a visual representation of sex… filling the gaps of what they feel they can’t talk about in schools and what they can’t talk about with their parents,” says Dr Woodley.
As Australian media regulations continue to tighten, restrictions around access to pornography are becoming more stringent, with a second phase already underway.
“This second phase of codes will complement the existing codes and standards that deal with the highest-harm online material, such as child sexual abuse material, and pro-terror material,” the eSafety Commissioner said.
Main image by Eva Greifeneder.
