British Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later data shows this decline in site visits continued past August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Young People Responding to Damaging Material
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
