offender and the relative anonymity afforded by the virtual context can have a disinhibiting effect.71 “Exposure to harmful online content” pertains to situations where a child accidentally or intentionally views pornographic or other content that is judged to be harmful to their development, sexual or otherwise. Harmful content can cover a broad range of audio, visual or written content and other material that has the ability to negatively influence children, although not necessarily illegal in itself. Examples include online pornography; violent video games; websites that espouse racial or ethnic hatred; commercial sites that seek to swindle youth or steal their identities; and, especially, sexual material.72 Children may be exposed to harmful content as the result of deliberate searches or of inadvertent contact resulting from search queries, pop-up advertisements or emails received from spam operators. Children who accidentally come across harmful content can be affected before they determine whether the content is appropriate or take action to remove themselves from the situation. Some children can experience signs of stress from the exposure, while others may not externally appear to be affected. Some children’s exposure may spark curiosity to seek more information or materials. Other children are naturally curious and may intentionally seek out information on the Internet in the first place. In either case, exposure to explicit or harmful content has the potential to influence the child’s development of values and perceptions. While some websites and games use age restrictions and checks to ensure that children are not exposed to harmful content, often there are few real barriers to prevent children from accessing such content at a younger age.73 Exposure to online pornography is particularly prevalent among male adolescents. As noted in a UNICEF study on child safety online, ICTs have created an environment in which pornography has become easily accessible, with many available sites displaying extreme forms of pornography that can be accessed by young people, including through unsolicited exposure.74 A 2006 telephone survey in the United States among a sample of 1,500 youth Internet users aged 10 to 17 years found that, out of 42 per cent of children between the ages of 10 and 17 years who reported previous exposure to pornographic content, 66 per cent indicated that the exposure had been unwanted. The survey also revealed that children who have been harassed, bullied or propositioned for sexual encounters are more likely to experience unwanted exposure to harmful content, suggesting a link between various forms of harmful conduct and indicating that some children are repeatedly victimized.75 71 University of Houston, Stalking and Cyberstalking. Available at http://www.uh.edu/wrc/safety-and-violence-prevention/ stalking%20/index.php. 72 U.S. Children’s Internet Protection Act Secs. 1703(b)(2), 20 U.S.C. sec 3601(a)(5)(F) as added by CIPA sec 1711, 20 U.S.C. sec 9134(b)(f )(7)(B) as added by CIPA sec 1712(a), and 147 U.S.C. sec. 254(h)(c)(G) as added by CIPA sec. 1721(a); See also http:// www.vodafone.com/content/parents/get-involved/inappropriate_harmful_ content.html. Mitchell, K., Finkelhor, D., Wolak, J., 2003. “The Exposure of Youth to Harmful Content on the Internet. A National Survey of Risk, Impact and Prevention”, Youth and Society 34:332 s. Available at: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/Exposure_risk.pdf 74 UNICEF, 2011. P.2. 75 Mitchell, K., Finkelhor, D., Wolak, J.,2007. “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users”. Pediatrics 119:247. Exposure to harmful content 73 I. Identifying and describing the problem  13