UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has risen.
Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate decline in traffic to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this slump in site visits continued past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content online. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the user who posted it.
This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
