UK Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these blocks has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing connections through another country—surged following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions included reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
