British Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has risen.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis suggests this decline in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by routing internet traffic through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.
