British Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in visits to popular pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August were 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 stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis shows this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the site to muting 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 suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Laws
Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on 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 youthful performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
