UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data suggests this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections via another nation—surged after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Proposed amendments 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 exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the digital age.
