UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has risen.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Law Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Later data suggests this slump in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers 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 Material
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.
