UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these blocks has increased.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures Following Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking connections through another country—surged following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Material
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
