UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has risen.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Actions included reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted before new rules came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, 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 pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.
