UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has risen.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
