UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Fall in User Figures After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an swift reduction in visits to major pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later data shows this decline in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Actions included flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for better regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image 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 heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.
