UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers After Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to major online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by routing connections via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
