The impact of indecent material on the internet is not limited to the individual level; its social and familial consequences are far-reaching. The family is the foundational institution of society, built on love, trust, and mutual harmony. However, indecent material seeping through digital media is shaking this very foundation. Due to modern technology, this unannounced crisis entering homes has created serious problems in husband-wife relationships, child-rearing, and intergenerational communication. Excessive use of indecent material has replaced human emotions with mechanical satisfaction, disrupting the social fabric. In today’s era, understanding the nature of these digital dangers and addressing them in time has become essential to save families.
12.1 How Digital Indecency Addiction Destroys Family Structures
Family structure is based on responsibilities toward each other and emotional connections. When a family member falls prey to indecent material, their entire attention shifts from the home to the virtual world. This addiction is as harmful as drug addiction, as the person loses their social awareness. Due to the use of indecent material, the person prefers solitude, completely breaking communication with other family members.[1]
Such addiction leads to behaviors like lack of interest in family events, neglect of household chores, and constant irritability. Other family members, especially the spouse and children, do not understand the reason for this change, creating a tense atmosphere at home. It can also affect financial matters, such as spending money on indecent material or losing focus at work, leading to job risks. Gradually, in a home where there should be joy, only distrust and distance remain. In this way, a prosperous family structure completely collapses due to this digital addiction.
12.2 Cause of Divorce: How Pornography Destroys Marital Intimacy
Physical and mental intimacy is extremely important in marital relationships. Indecent material sows poison on both these levels. When a partner starts comparing the unrealistic and artificial depictions in indecent material with their real spouse, dissatisfaction arises. The bodies and acts shown on screen are not natural, yet the viewer begins to expect the same in real life. This reduces attraction toward the spouse and eliminates joy in marital life.
Often, the sexual perversion created by indecent material leads to forcing it on the partner, bringing bitterness into the relationship. When the spouse learns about this addiction, they feel cheated. This crack in trust is so large that it is difficult to mend.[2] In today’s era, indecent material addiction is emerging as a hidden but primary reason in many divorce cases. When physical intimacy ends, emotional bonds also weaken, and eventually, a happy household disintegrates, turning into divorce.
12.3 Erosion of Trust: Rise of Micro-Cheating and Online Infidelity
In the digital age, the form of cheating has changed. Even without physical meetings, cheating done solely through online media is poisoning relationships. Chatting on adult sites, engaging in sexual conversations with strangers, or constantly searching for such content on social media is called micro-cheating. Although there is no physical relation in this, this act breaches loyalty to the partner. As a result, transparency in the relationship ends, and an atmosphere of suspicion arises.
Due to online infidelity, the person becomes more attached to the digital screen than giving time to their partner. When the partner realizes that their significant other is secretly involved in such things, their self-respect is hurt. Once lost, regaining trust becomes nearly impossible. Due to this distrust, constant arguments, checking each other’s phones, and mental harassment begin. While online media has made cheating easy, its consequences in real life are extremely painful, leading to the end of beautiful relationships.
12.4 Generational Conflict: Clash between Parents and Digital-Native Children
Today’s parents grew up in a traditional environment, while children are born entirely in the digital world. The ideological gap between these two generations is widening further due to indecent material. When parents unexpectedly find indecent material on their children’s phones or computers, their reaction is extremely intense. Parents are shocked by this and try to impose strict restrictions on the children. On the other hand, children see this as an infringement on their privacy and freedom.
Due to these ideological differences, communication completely stops. Parents feel their children are spoiled, while children feel their parents do not understand the modern world.[3] In this conflict, children become more rebellious and continue viewing such things secretly. Since parents lack the skill to openly discuss this topic with children, the situation worsens further. This gap created by indecent material destroys the feeling of love and security in the family, causing children to emotionally distance themselves from parents.
12.5 Death of Romance: Prioritizing Instant Gratification over Relationship-Building
True romance and love depend on patience, time, and understanding each other. However, indecent material has habituated people to instant gratification. Sexual satisfaction available with one click leads the person away from the effort required to build a relationship. In the new generation, building a relationship with someone, spending time on it, and exchanging emotions seem less preferable than obtaining artificial satisfaction on the digital screen.
As a result, true love and emotion are disappearing in society. People start thinking only of their own pleasure instead of connecting with each other. Instead of overcoming difficulties in relationships, people try to suppress their emotions by turning to indecent material. This increases loneliness in society. When a person feels the need for true romance, they do not even understand how to obtain it, as their habit is limited to unrealistic and artificial material. Consequently, emotional emptiness is developing in society.
12.6 Parenting in the Dark: Struggle to Monitor Children’s Digital Use
In today’s era, parenting is no less than a challenge. Due to the vast expanse of the internet, it has become impossible for parents to find out what their children are viewing. This can be called parenting in the dark, as parents sense danger but do not know exactly where it is. Since children are smarter with technology than parents, they use tricks like deleting search history or private browsing.
Parents constantly live under the shadow of fear that their children might not be taking the wrong path. Out of this fear, they start checking children’s phones or keeping surveillance on them, which creates resentment toward parents in children’s minds. For parents lacking digital literacy, this situation is even more dire. Not knowing how to keep children safe using technology leaves many parents helpless. This struggle also affects parents’ mental health, keeping the home atmosphere constantly tense. Therefore, it is the need of the time for voluntary organizations to come forward and collectively work on digital literacy.
[1] Siddharth Chauhan, “Parents’ smartphone addiction is destroying families, Vivo CMR study reveals”, Digit, 16.12.2024, available at: https://www.digit.in/features/mobile-phones/parents-smartphone-addiction-is-destroying-families-vivo-cmr-study-reveals.html, last visited on 12.12.2025
[2] Diederik F Janssen, “From Libidines nefandæ to sexual perversions”, History of Psychiatry 2020, Vol. 31(4) 421 –439
[3] Ine Beyens, Loes Keijsers and Sarah M. Coyne, “Social media, parenting, and well-being”, Current Opinion in Psychology 2022, 47
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