British Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Checks, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to bypass these blocks has surged.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate decline in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing connections through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
