UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has surged.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later data suggests this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.
This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
