British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, But VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the use of tools designed to dodge these barriers has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
