British Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Verifications, But VPN Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.