British Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has surged.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease 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 before the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis shows this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing connections through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
