British Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, States Watchdog
Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these blocks has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the leading 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 from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data suggests this decline in viewing persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
