Jess Phillips had a sarcastic quip when discussing Pornhub's dramatic plunge in visitors following age verification measures. The Home Office minister said her "heart bleeds" for the popular porn site that has now seen a reduction of 77 per cent in traffic.
At the House of Commons, Ms Phillips revealed that "green shoots" were starting to emerge, as the government began enforcing age checks on adult content providers in a bid to safeguard young people online.
According to Daily Star Ms Phillips claimed that Pornhub, Britain's most frequented pornography website, had witnessed a substantial decline in users due to the new requirements. The minister delivered these remarks whilst outlining the Government's violence against women and girls (Vawg) strategy on Thursday.
She informed the Commons: "I am very pleased to say that since age verification came in in July that Pornhub has seen a reduction of 77% in its traffic. My heart bleeds for them.
"So we are seeing the green shoots of this."
The minister's observation followed a query from Sarah Owen, chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee, who questioned whether the Government would "get tough" with big tech over its failure to protect children.
She stated: "Will this be co-designed alongside girls and boys so it's well received and up to date with the latest technology, because big tech has a huge role to play in tackling misogyny.
"Children online are constantly targeted with information, including violent pornography or hateful content, and we say, 'don't look', but the algorithms are screaming at them to look.
"Our committee found that tech companies like X, Snapchat and TikTok continue to freely publish misogyny."
Lib Dem spokesperson for women and equalities, Marie Goldman, echoed these concerns about tech firms.
She stated: "Training for teachers is a welcome measure, but unless it's also accompanied by steps to properly moderate online content, there is no doubt in my mind that it will fail.
"As long as violent, misogynistic content continues to reach children and adults online, this crisis will persist. I have no doubt that the minister knows this.
"I would ask her to go further and faster in tackling the devastatingly harmful effect of online content."
The minister concurred with Ms Owen's point about young people being exposed to violent pornography online, stating that part of the Government's strategy will involve banning strangulation in porn.
Ms Phillips added: "I can absolutely guarantee (Ms Goldman) that I will hold tech companies accountable.
"I think it's quite famously known that quite a lot of them aren't that keen on me, that I will hold them accountable for their behaviours, but also work with them in what is possible."