UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has risen.
Immediate Fall in User Figures After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.
