British Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to bypass these blocks has surged.
Sharp Fall in User Figures After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later data indicates this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken included flagging the material to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for better regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
