UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Identity Checks, But VPN Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Drop in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate fall in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.
