UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has fallen significantly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to dodge these blocks has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later data shows this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out before new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
