British Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator
Access to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in User Figures After Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out before new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Stricter Online Regulations
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.
