UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this slump in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—surged following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
