British Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift reduction in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Later data shows this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the site to muting the user who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.
