You got a study showing that's how it works!
> Or is there any indication that availability of CSAM material actually increases the likelihood that people act on it later?
There's a decent amount of research that shows the escalating nature of pornography consumption.
https://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-can-become-an-escalatin...
You can follow the references in this article.
Surely it's better to ask why people are looking for any kind of child abuse material, generated or not, and find ways to help them.
As much as it's reasonable to worry about moral panic one might also worry about moral complacency.
Assuming that’s a question, no I don’t.
> There's a decent amount of research that shows the escalating nature of pornography consumption.
Watching more extreme porn doesn’t mean you actually do it in real life later though.
> Surely it's better to ask why people are looking for any kind of child abuse material, generated or not, and find ways to help them.
Wouldn’t it be best to do both? And also, is there a known way to „help“ pedophiles? Isn’t it like wanting to „help“ homosexual people by converting them to being heterosexual? They are attracted to what they’re attracted to, is there any chance of changing that?