British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Regulator
Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis shows this slump in site visits continued past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
