British Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, But VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Drop in User Figures Following Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an swift fall in visits to major online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later data shows this decline in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This research was conducted before new rules came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.
Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
