British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July deadline. Later data indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by routing connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was conducted before new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
