this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
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I believe the last time something like this came up, the argument was raised that it normalizes the behavior and leads to escalation, i.e. “they’re just illustrations” “it’s just a doll” to “I’m just taking photos” or “it’s just touching”, this time against actual victims
They said same sex marriage would lead to bestiality
Fake kids to real kids is very different than some crazy fucko thinking same-sex marriage would lead to fucking animals. Are you for real?
Slippery slope fallacy. We know that consumption of real CSAM might increase frustration and lead to pursuit of real crimes. However, we don't have the same level of evidence for illustrations or sex dolls. It's a massive blind side in the scientific literature. It's very hard to study.
Despite this, the number one risk factor still remains unsupervised access to minors. Regardless of whether the abuser consumes abuse media or not.
Does the research support this argument though? (Spoiler: it doesn't)
To my knowledge, there is very little research at all - the programs that would look into whether this might protect or endanger children struggle to get funded, because it's icky.
And anyone looking into it immediately gets labeled as defending abusers.