UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog
Traffic to adult content websites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis suggests this slump in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was carried out before new rules took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
