Debating pornography and the notion of harm in public discourse: The case of Billie Eilish’s experiences with sexual content online
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Debra Dudek: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2882-8830
Giselle Woodley: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7521-5001
Abstract
Young people’s experiences with sexual content online are a regularly featured popular topic in news media, feeding heated ongoing policy and academic debates. Concerns and calls for further regulation and youth’s self-regulation are exacerbated when celebrities and popular public figures share statements and confessions about their own sexual lives at a young age. In this article, we study the discursive conditions of media coverage and the celebrity confessional as narratives of regulation and self-regulation. Using Billie Eilish’s statement about her self-perceived experience of harm from use of pornography during teenage life (13 December 2021), we study how global and national media outlets constructed Eilish’s confession in the light of broader concerns about children’s experiences with such online sexual content. This study enhances our understanding of how adolescents’ experiences of sexual content online is publicly shaped.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
5-1-2025
Volume
27
Issue
5
Publication Title
New Media and Society
Publisher
Sage
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
82285
Funders
Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : 190102435
Copyright
free_to_read
First Page
2597
Last Page
2619
Comments
Chronaki, D., Tsaliki, L., Dudek, D., Staksrud, E., Woodley, G., & Dinh, T. B. T. (2025). Debating pornography and the notion of harm in public discourse: The case of Billie Eilish’s experiences with sexual content online. New Media & Society, 27(5), 2597-2619. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251333740