UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has increased.
Immediate Drop in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data shows this slump in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can bypass geographic blocks by masking connections via another nation—surged after 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users before the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This research was conducted before new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws
Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating 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 older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
