UK Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Drop in User Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers 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 data shows this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material
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 ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require 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 looking through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
