Children at risk to online smut without safeguards: warning

Three such sites are in the top 50 most used websites in the UK, with the most popular receiving more hits than the websites of some national newspapers, the BBFC said.

Introducing the BBFC's annual report, Sir Quentin wrote that efforts to regulate potentially harmful content on the internet were hampered by the fact that many of the websites are run outside the UK by people with no interest in restricting the material they provide or the ease with which it can be accessed.

"It is accessed by people who are not predisposed to the idea that they might need protecting from such content (or that society might need protecting from the effects that such content might have on their beliefs, attitudes or behaviour), or by children whose parents lack the technological sophistication or inclination to make effective use of the tools available," he wrote.

"To take just one type of potentially harmful content, we know that many children are coming across pornographic or obscene material online.

"With the recent development of YouTube-style pornographic sites, such exposure can only increase.

"These sites offer instant and free access to a vast catalogue of explicit pornographic videos uploaded by users of the sites.

"Many of the videos contain violent, abusive or obscene content. Like YouTube, they have no gatekeeping in place."

Some such sites lack even a page to warn users about the explicit nature of what they are about to see, Sir Quentin warned, as the extra mouse click is thought to drive people to other sites.

The BBFC said the "Pornhub" site is the 24th most used in the UK, while "Youporn" and "Redtube" are 33rd and 39th in the list respectively.

The Daily Telegraph website is 30th, the Daily Mail 31st and The Times 42nd, the BBFC said.

Press Association