Porn Watching Increases Even as Industry Shuts Down

Porn use is skyrocketing globally while millions self-quarantine and work from home amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, even as the adult industry shuts down. 

On Wednesday, Pornhub released its latest novel coronavirus-related statistics, which show traffic spiking an average of 11.6% around the world. Especially in Europe, where hard-hit areas are taking the company up on its offer of free Premium access during lock-down, more people are watching porn than ever. But even here in the U.S., where the federal government hasn’t yet issued major mandates about staying home, Pornhub viewership has gone up a healthy 6.4% percent. 

In response to the data, Mel Magazine’s Miles Klee has gleefully informed readers, “Never have this many gotten the same and simultaneous opportunity to keep porn tabs open alongside the spreadsheet they need to file after lunch.” 

Quarantine presents such an opportunity for wanking while working that PC Magazine warned its readers not to watch porn on their company’s Virtual Private Network (VPN). “Your employer’s VPN is connecting you to your employer’s network,” wrote Max Eddy. “When you’re connected to your employer’s VPN, it’s the same as if you were sitting in your office, connected to your employer’s Wi-Fi or ethernet. You might be at home in your pajamas, but in the eyes of your boss and corporate IT, you’re on the corporate network.” So, um, don’t use that network to view porn, or you’re giving your IT department, and possibly your boss, an eyeful of your private tastes. 

The lure of watching porn during work hours may have gotten to two men in London were called out for keeping porn open on their computers while working. According to The Sun, “In an email which has gone viral, a co-worker at London’s Frost Wealth Management warned Calum Obbard: ‘We can see you are logged in via remote access. Your screen here is visible and we can all see you watching porn between enquiries.’” The company claims it was just a tasteless prank, but the point remains: Don’t wank while you’re working from home.

Ironically, all this hubbub over porn-watching from home is happening at the same time that America’s porn industry is shutting down production. On March 15, the Free Speech Coalition issued a statement calling for “a voluntary shutdown of all adult entertainment productions in the United States and Canada through Tuesday, March 31.”

During a time when porn use is skyrocketing, the shutdown has scared some porn fans. Men’s lifestyle magazine GQ cautioned readers to “ration your porn watching as coronavirus may halt the production of new content.” 

But there’s no need to hoard porn like toilet paper, folks. There’s still plenty of fap material being made—just find your favorite performers on OnlyFans, webcams, or any of the zillion other direct-to-consumer platforms that can connect you with fresh content—and support your favorite stars!