UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate decline in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the leading site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis suggests this decline in viewing continued past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as 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 serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Online Controls
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.
