UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later data shows this slump in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new rules came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Laws
Separately, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
