British Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these blocks has increased.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease 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 settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data 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, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop 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 scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.
