UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, But VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to major pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who posted it.
This research was conducted before new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.
