British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has increased.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt fall in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass geographic blocks by masking connections through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was carried out before new rules took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Tighter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
