British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material
In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Announce Review of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations
Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
