British Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Fall in User Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking connections through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
