UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the UK has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has surged.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
