The Truth Exposed: What You Need To Know About Social Media
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It’s no secret that social media is a giant that continues to grow. In 2019 alone, there were 3.48 billion social media users. That’s just slightly under 50% of the entire world’s population!
This era of digital connection helps friends and family members stay in touch across the miles. However, social media can also become a platform for promoting sexually explicit content. As a result, sexual exploitation is on the rise as is the number of people who regularly seek out pornography.
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In their study, The Porn Phenomenon, the Barna Group reports:
- 20% of teens seek out porn weekly
- 1 in 5 Americans (ages 13 and older) view porn at least once per week
- 59% of married men have sought a pastor’s help for their porn usage
- 56% of youth pastors say they are addicted to pornography
Covenant Eyes reports that 79% of men between the ages of 18 and 30 seek out pornography at least once per month. In comparison, 76% of women in the same age bracket also acknowledge seeking out porn at least monthly.
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Is it possible that social media is significantly contributing to the porn epidemic? We think so!
In November 2019, Twitter clarified its Sensitive Media Policy, expounding on what is and is not permissible content to share. Initially, it appears as if they are making great strides forward in the right direction.
They list, “You may not post media that is excessively gory or share violent or adult content within live video or in profile or header images. Media depicting sexual violence and/or assault is also not permitted.”
But if you read their policy to the end, you’ll discover a surprising loophole. Twitter concludes, “You can share graphic violence and consensually produced adult content within your Tweets, provided that you mark this media as sensitive…If you don’t mark your media as sensitive, we will do so manually if your content is reported for review.”
But, how does Twitter justify what is or is not consensually produced?
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According to End Sexual Exploitation, they can’t.
In an article published earlier this month, End Sexual Exploitation stated,
“It is impossible to tell from the content of a video, image, or tweet, whether force, fraud, psychological coercion, social manipulation, etc, were used to instigate it. Even mainstream pornography websites (i.e. an entire business model that supposedly revolves around “consensually produced” pornography) have been busted for hosting and profiting off of sex trafficking videos.”
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Meta
Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp), on the other hand, seems to have tighter restrictions on allowable content. Taken directly from their Community Standards page, Facebook states, “We restrict the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content. Additionally, we default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content.”
In their terms, Instagram shares that they prohibit any posts that depict nudity. They claim to have a “zero tolerance when it comes to sharing sexual content involving minors or threatening to post intimate images of others.”
But don’t be deceived.
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Protect Young Eyes, an organization focusing on defending kids from online dangers, decided to research these claims in 2018. They made more than 50 reports to Instagram over a period of five days. In each case, they cited sexually explicit hashtags that did in fact generate sexualized content. In each case, the hashtags generated thousands, if not millions of posts.
They reported that Instagram failed to respond to their reports, but did note that by February 2019, Instagram had at least removed one of the hashtags.
Caleb Mathis of Crossroads Church related an interview he had with a recovering addict. The addict, Sean, explained,
“Instagram and Snapchat were big sources of temptation for me. It was so easy to find images there that would drive me back to watching porn.”
Taking Responsibility
As the demand for social media increases, it’s important to be made aware of the dangers that are easily accessible to any audience. However, understand that the responsibility to protect yourself from sexually explicit content falls on your shoulders.
Sean shared,
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to cut social media out. But I saw, so clearly, that it was my front door into porn. So I deleted both apps. It’s been one of the best choices I’ve ever made, but I honestly don’t regret it at all.”
No, this doesn’t mean that you have to disable your social media accounts. Choose to navigate them responsibly.
Consider installing accountability or filtering software to help you avoid temptation. But recognize that those apps alone are not going to prevent you from seeking out porn. Too often, we fail to understand that seeking out pornography is a means by which to medicate the pain and stress that is felt in our everyday lives.
Related Article: Which Accountability Software Is Right For Me?
Finding Freedom
Childhood wounds stemming from abuse, neglect, or rejection are likely a large contributing factor to your struggle with porn. At the moment of pain, the enemy inserted a lie into your life.
Unfortunately, these lies prevent us from experiencing the fullness of all that Christ died to offer. Satan wants you to believe that you’re a lost cause, but you’re not. Healing is available to you, regardless of where you’ve been in life or what you may have done.
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But where do you begin?
For millions of men in over 100 countries around the world, they have started their journey to a life free from porn through the use of the Conquer Series. The Conquer Series combines both Scripture and science to expose the lies that you’ve been led to believe.
It will help you understand why trying harder does not work. You’ll learn how to effectively renew your mind in Christ, and you’ll hear countless testimonies that will encourage you on your journey.
Joshua Jorstad shared,
“Because of the Conquer Series, I started my journey to be free from porn! I am officially a year and a half clean and have been loving the change. Ultimately, it was God who changed my heart, but your resources helped a bunch!”
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Don’t travel this road alone. A Conquer Group will connect you with a band of brothers who will offer prayer, encouragement, and support every step of the way.
And understand this, it’s not enough to watch one video each week. Take advantage of the digital pass, which provides an interactive study guide and online journal, to help you get the most out of the Conquer Series.
Freedom is attainable. Are you ready to pursue it?