UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has risen.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period 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 implementation date. Subsequent analysis suggests this slump in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing connections via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
