British Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to leading online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was carried out before new rules took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls
Campaigners for better control 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 abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making 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 often promoted by site algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
