An estimated one out of 10 adult internet users in Russia watch online porn despite legal constraints placed on adult content in the country, a newly released study has said.
Russia blocked access to the world’s largest adult website Pornhub in 2016. A new law imposed earlier this year banned 50 pieces of software that allow anonymous web surfing through virtual private networks (VPNs).
An average 10.7 million Russians (11.3 percent of the adult population) visited an adult website at least once a month over the past year, according to a study conducted by the Mediascope marketing firm that was commissioned by the RBC news website.
The visits peaked at 12 million visitors (13 percent of the adult population) between March and July and declined in the fall.
Between November 2017 and October 2018, the users aged 18 to 64 visited more than 100 adult websites, according to the data published on Monday.
Russian adults’ daily porn intake averages at 1.6 million visitors at around 11 minutes a day.
Mediascope’s research excluded social media websites and blogging platforms including Tumblr, which has announced plans to block porn as of Monday. The marketing company estimates Tumblr’s new rules could affect more than 1 million subscribers based in Russia.
The data is also limited to content watched on desktop computers and does not include mobile devices.
