UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—surged after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted before new rules came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.
Proposed changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
