UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 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 downward trend in viewing continued past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.
This research was conducted before new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
