Are We Really Porn Crazy?

Post Courier thinks we are

According to the Post Courier (January 17, 2017), Papua New Guinea (PNG) is ranked number one with the most searches for the keyword “porn” on Google. They extracted data from Google Trends and presented it to the whole world. However, being cynical, I decided to verify the facts – and my results were quite different!

I try to verify their facts

So I went on to Google Trends and based on the news report, used the keyword “porn” for a worldwide search for the last 5 years. The returned results showed quite a contradicting picture from what Post Courier had inferred.

The results came back with Trinidad & Tobago topping the list, followed closely by Nepal and South Africa. In fact, PNG does not even make the top 10 list of countries that searched “porn”. I was appalled that the country’s oldest publishing newspaper could publish such slanderous information without checking their facts.

So I went further by filtering the top keywords used in the country within the last 5 years. The results, again, contradicted the report further. Here is the top search keywords used in the country for that mentioned period.

1. png;
2. facebook;
3. videos;
4. facebook login, and;
5. gmail.

Again, the keyword “porn” is not on the top 10 list. This prompted me to ask how Post Courier had come up with their results, so I did another filter; this time I filtered for the keyword “porn” but instead of pulling in the data against the world, I filtered it for only for PNG. The results still did not match.

[trends h=”500″ w=”500″ q=”porn” geo=”PG”]

As it turns out, if you filter the search to show statistics for the keyword “porn” localized to the PNG, then the results come close to that as those shown by Post Courier. It also revealed the top provinces for the keyword. Unfortunately, it does not support the newspaper’s claim of the country being top in the world for the keyword.

Interestingly, the data does show an increase in porn searches within PNG. The spike happened around 2011 and has remained constant since. This indicates an increase in search for porn. However, it does not even make a blip on the worldwide radar.

It’s not what it’s cracked up to be

The data presented in the newspaper’s appalling graphics does not compare to the world. Instead, it focuses only within the country. Unfortunately, Post Courier’s claim is by all means – inaccurate!

Now, I’m not saying Papua New Guineans don’t search porn. They do, but not to the extent that the newspaper claiming. So why would a newspaper publish a report that does not seem to hold water? Could it be a move to win public opinion over censorship?

I’m not sure, but I do know that Post Courier needs to put out a public apology for dragging the country’s name through the mud.

Furthermore, the statistics presented for the keyword “porn” is too vague and could mean a lot of things. For example, it could be used for research purposes in a variety of academic fields; psychology, sociology, health etc. all deal with porn.

What are others are saying?

The headline sent our tech savvy Facebook users in a frenzy. Everyone questioned Post Courier’s data and even presented their own research. I’ve compiled some reactions on social media.

Interestingly, someone did replicate the data presented by the newspaper. Unfortunately, he used the keyword “pornography” instead of “porn”. Furthermore, the context of the data may have been misinterpreted. I will be publishing an article on How to Use Google Trends next week.

Meanwhile, prominent social commentator and blogger Martyn Namarong believes it a way of conditioning the public for censorship.

Clearly today’s Post Courier headline was a psyops aimed at conditioning #PNG society to be more receptive to internet censorship

— MARTYN NAMORONG (@Mangiwantok) January 17, 2017

What do we do now?

While I must challenge the data presented by Post Courier, I am aware that access to pornography is becoming easier for children with the use of smartphones. I also agree that the government has a duty of care to try and help prevent access to such material. However, I must also ask parents what they are planning to do about it.

Parents cannot just stand back and call for the government to stop access to pornography, yet remain oblivious to the activities of their children. It is their responsibility to make sure that children grow up physically and mentally healthy.

Now, I’m not going to delve further into this because it mainly concerns censorship – and I’ve written a piece about the Good, the Bad and Ugly of Censorship.

Are we porn crazy?

Maybe. The truth is we don’t have concrete data to give any statements about this. The data collected by Google only represents that of internet users that use Google as their search engine. It does not represent material viewed through other search engines, social media sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, or even content shared directly via devices.

Furthermore, data extracted from Google Trends is often open to personal interpretation, and the context of the data is often overlooked. I will explain this further in my post next week.

Do we have a problem? The simple answer – yes. Technology has made access to porn much easier. Our parents had a harder time trying to access it. They only had it on magazines, books and the old VHS tapes. It was something that was hard to come by, but not impossible.

On the plus side

The story is slanderous and distorted. However, on the plus side, it does put the spotlight on the issue of control. Now that we know that our children have access to porn, what are we (parents etc.) going to do about it?

Think about it.