Sexually explicit cartoons of Frozen, Scooby Doo and The Simpsons are enticing children as young as six onto pornography sites, an investigation by Britain’s official regulator has found.

The research by the British Board for Film Classification (BBFC) found pornography sites viewed by children had explicit films using “beloved” characters from Disney films like Frozen and Tangled, the Incredibles, Scooby Doo, US cartoon hit Ben 10 and The Simpsons.

Half of the top 30 non-cam sites visited by children aged six to 12 specialised in “non-photographic” pornography, where cartoon or animated characters engage in sexual activity. Some were judged to have illegal child abuse content.

The BBFC study suggested children were attracted to these sites because of their use of such characters, with a disproportionate number of those aged six to 17 found to be accessing them.

'Helpful to raise awareness'

David Austin, the BBFC’s chief executive, said: “These are characters beloved by children and children are being exposed to the characters in pornographic scenarios on pornographic websites.

“Parents don’t know this, educators don’t know this, people responsible for caring for children don’t know this. It is not very well researched. There’s real value in bringing this research to the public. It’s helpful to raise awareness of the issue.”

More than a quarter (28 per cent) of 11 to 12-year-olds have seen pornography on the internet, according to separate research by the BBFC. It also found that children were just as likely to stumble across pornography (28 per cent) as to search for it deliberately (19 per cent).

The BBFC conducted the research as part of moves by the Government to crackdown on children’s access to pornography sites. The requirement for tough age verification to prevent under-18s entering pornography sites was part of the digital economy act but was then dropped and incorporated into the online safety bill.

The research found children were more likely to be on sites where there was more “non-photographic” pornography. The younger the children were, the more likely they were to have been on the sites.

More than a fifth (21 per cent) of the top 30 non-cam sites visited by children aged six to 17 specialised in such cartoon imagery, rising to 50 per cent among younger children aged six to 12. By contrast, none of the top sites visited by adults specialised in such material.

Policymakers should 'take it seriously'

“The findings demonstrate the prominence of non-photographic content we believe to be potentially harmful in terms of promoting an interest in abusive relationships and/or potentially offering non-photographic images of child sexual abuse across the most-visited pornographic websites,” the report concluded.

Mr Austin said: “We would like policymakers to look at issues raised by this research, take it seriously and look at what options there might be to deal with it. We want to raise awareness with parents, with schools, with caregivers so they are aware this content exists.”

The research was conducted by BBFC researchers, using Comscore data and analysis. It found nine in 10 of the top 100 porn sites carried non-photographic content. Nearly two thirds (65.1 per cent) was judged to be potentially harmful in promoting an interest in abusive relationships or child abuse.

Nearly half (48.2 per cent) carried imagery based on well-known animated characters such as those from Frozen the Incredibles, Scooby Doo, The Simpsons and Tangled as well as Iron Man, Spider Man and Wolverine. 

The research has been welcomed by Barnados, Childnet, Internet Watch Foundation and the NSPCC.