British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.
Immediate Drop in User Figures After Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by routing connections via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was carried out before new rules came into force that require social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
