#p.s.a.

First and foremost:

The onus of access to NSFW content is on adult creators.

You willingly put your content on a platform minors have easy access to. Plus, you’re the adult. Responsibility is on you.

It’s a hard pill to swallow, especially since a lot of the older generation of adults didn’t take responsibility like this in the early days of the Internet. But, we should.

If you’re worried what you’re creating is going to harm minors or get you in trouble, put it behind a paywall.

(I personally have problems with adults creating NSFW art or writing involving canonically minor-aged characters from fandoms. I don’t think adult creators should be doing it, but that’s seen as a draconian mindset. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Not all NSFW content is created equal.

NSFW content is highly variable. Pornography, NSFW art, NSFW written content, adult roleplays, and NSFW fandom content each have different things to consider.

Providing pornography - video or photos of NSFW content of adults - to minors is illegal in the US. Furthermore, there’s a litany of problems in pornography alone, from derogatory slurs being used for categories to revenge porn to professional productions mistreating their workers to how not-realistic porn can actually be. It can screw with someone’s perception of what sex is if they interact with it too often and from a young age.

Laws against child sex abuse imagery (child porn) are generally limited to actual photographs or video of said content. I believe this includes manipulated images of minors, as well. Not 100% sure, though. It might vary from case-to-case and court-to-court.

Drawn NSFW content involving minor-aged characters (original or fandom) is a legal grey zone in the US, last I read.

I’ve heard of someone getting in trouble for having hentai that involved underage characters, but they were also in trouble for actual photos/videos of child sex abuse. However, there is so much of NSFW content involving minor-aged characters out there, I doubt artists are often legally challenged on this and, if they are, they can easily say “I aged them up.”

I’m not condoning this, I just know the excuses since I’ve argued against this before.

I, personally, do not think adults should be creating NSFW art or writing involving minor-aged characters, particularly in fandoms where the source is specifically created for minors.

(Which, BTW, if you’re creating NSFW fandom content for source material that is specifically minors - like My Hero Academia, My Little Pony, etc - you are encroaching on a minor-filled space with your NSFW content. Minors are not encroaching on your NSFW space. The fandom was specifically created with minors in mind, adults brought the NSFW in.)

If adult creators are going to create content like that, put it behind a paywall. That’s the best way to limit minor-aged access to it.

If you’re doing NSFW roleplay, just make sure your partner isn’t a minor or the characters aren’t underage. If your partner is a minor, you’d be tailoring NSFW content to them, which is gross and illegal in the US.

Written NSFW content varies so much. From abstract sex scenes to explicit, pretty much most of it is accessible to minors in a bookstore or thrift stores that sell books. When I was a minor, I even read vague sex scenes the YA section of my local library. (Which also meant a publishing company published the YA sex scene.)

Also, the point of the story matters; is it only for sexual gratification or is the sex a simple part of a larger story?

Seriously, not all NSFW content is created equal.

Context and content is super important!

It’s natural for minors - specifically teenagers - to be curious about sexual content. Especially in the US where our sexual education is painfully lacking. If teens feel like something is being hidden from them, they often seek it out.

Furthermore, what a parent constitutes as inappropriate for their own child(ren) varies from parent to parent.

I’m a sex-positive parent. If my kids ask, I explain sex or sex acts to them in a straightforward and age-appropriate way. I’d rather be the one to explain it to them than have them pop a term into Google.

Some parents are strictly against anything sex-related, including gender and orientation discussions.

Which means parental blocks can be super strict and include things that my partner and I think are fine for our kids to see. Such as LGBTQ+ content.

(Also, there are book bans happening in schools right now, specifically targeting authors of color, stories involving racism, and stories involving queerness. Often under the guise of “save the children” by conservative parents/organizations.)

That said, if my teenage kid seeks out NSFW content, I feel that’s to be expected. I have no problem with them finding or seeking out healthy depictions between two or more consenting adults.

HOWEVER, it’s when the NSFW content involves minors with adults, depicts unhealthy relationships, or violent scenes that it becomes a problem. And there is a lot of this sort of NSFW content out there.

I don’t want pedophilic, toxic relationships, or violence in sex being normalized or romanticized to my kids. That’s why it’s my job to discuss those topics and steer my kids away from that content, if they stumble into it.

This is why I, as a parent, am open about sex talk so my kids can come to me with questions or concerns. I even discuss shipping to help my kids understand. (EX: Why Aizawa from My Hero Academia being paired with any current students is pedophilic and not OK. This is a legit convo we’ve had. Though my kids thought the pairing was gross to begin with. lol)

That said, I’d like adult creators to take care of where they post their work, what it normalizes/romanticizes, and who can - wittingly or unwittingly - gain access to it.

As for my content...

I don’t really care if minors read my writing or look at my art. (Not that I have much NSFW of the latter, I think.)

Minors are not my target demographic and I don’t want them directly interacting (following, reblogging, commenting, etc) with my NSFW work or me.

If I begin suspecting minors are interacting with me or this particular blog - not just passively reading my content - I will block blogs.

Likewise, if I create something with sensitive content I don’t think minors should have easy access to, I’ll put it behind a paywall.

ALSO, each creator is free to set their own boundaries. These are mine, if others have more stringent boundaries, then please abide by them.

This post is not justification for minors to ignore stated boundaries. Just a further explanation of how complicated this situation can be.

Additionally, Minors creating NSFW content.

Again, NSFW content is super varied.

If minors are posting NSFW photographs or videos, that can be construed as producing child sex abuse imagery (or imagery for child exploitation.) I have heard of minors getting in legal trouble for this, specifically for sharing nudes with adults they were “in relationships” with. (Often pedophilic relationships where the adult had power over the minor.)

If you’re a minor, just don’t, OK? It’s for your safety, since your nudes/videos could be leaked against your consent to sites and they’ll be out there forever for pedophiles to exploit.

If minors are drawing or writing NSFW content, that is more complicated. Teenagers have always drawn or written NSFW content in decades past. (We even have jokes about this, like Tina Belcher’s “erotic friend fiction.”)

They just never had access to share it with a huge audience before the Internet.

The problem isn’t them creating it. It’s the potentiality of a minor being used by an adult, via sharing this content. We should keep teenagers safe so they can explore this aspect of life through relatively safe means via art or writing.

I personally do not think teenagers should be creating content with minor-aged characters, but most creators want to make stories that mirror their lives in some way, so... ugh. It’s really hard to tell a 16-year-old to not write about 16-year-olds.

HOWEVER, if you’re an adult and you know the creator of the NSFW content is a minor, stop interacting with them. Do not commission, do not comment. Leave them alone.