British Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an swift reduction in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Later analysis suggests this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking connections through another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was carried out before new rules took effect that require social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Advocates Push For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency 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 apply to the online sphere.
