British Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography websites in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these barriers has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis indicates this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine 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 current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls
Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- 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, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.
