Christian campaigners are urging government ministers to take action after a poll by the GB News channel revealed broad support for tougher restrictions on online pornography.

The survey, conducted by People Polling, found that over three quarters of UK adults (78%) support the introduction of an age verification system to stop children being able to access harmful adult content. Only 5% disagreed. 

Support was strong among both Tory voters (84%) and Labour voters (80%). 

The poll follows calls from former home secretary Sajid Javid and dozens of Tory MPs who want amendments to the Online Safety Bill to include strict age checks on social media and pornography websites.

Christian advocacy group CARE has backed calls for changes to the Bill to make it "truly fit for purpose".

These include the introduction of "robust" age verification measures within six months of a new law being enacted, and a definition of pornography as harmful content. 

It also wants to see measures introduced to verify the consent and age of people in porn videos, and a consisent approach towards online and offline porn. 

"When it comes to pornographic content, what is illegal offline should be illegal online," said the spokeswoman.

"Extreme porn and prohibited pornographic material that cannot be sold in shops should not be available to watch online.

"Upwards of 65% of pornography available on mainstream websites would not be allowed to be sold in shops. This legal loophole must be closed."

A recent report by the Children's Commissioner revealed that one in 10 UK children have seen pornography by the age of nine. 

There are also increasing concerns about a link between extreme sexual content and the prevalence of sexual violence. 

The spokeswoman continued: "Experts are alarmed at the availability of abusive, degrading internet pornography, and even warn that it is inspiring sexual violence offline. In the recent case of David Carrick, involving grotesque sexual violence, his attraction to violent pornography was noted. This was also true of Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens, and many other men jailed for sexual crime.

"Schools' regulator Ofsted has reported growing levels of sexual harassment among school-aged children, with porn also being cited by girls who are the victims of attacks.

"The idea that our society is not being negatively affected by open-ended access to pornography is absurd. The government needs to address this situation through its online safety regime."