British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the use of tools designed to bypass these barriers has surged.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Later analysis shows this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by routing connections through another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Damaging Material
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new rules came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
