British Pornography Traffic Falls Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an prompt decline in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections through another nation—surged after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
